The Queen and the Phantom
by Mallie1227
Summary: AU. The Queen of the Forest, or Sam as she prefers, was content with her life until someone orders her capture. Of course the guy they sent just HAD to be the Phantom, a man who extremely good at hunting anyone for the right price. As the hunt goes on, Sam can't help but feel she's a pawn in a twisted game. So does Phantom. Now they must figure out who's playing with them and why.
1. Chapter 1

Sam leapt from one branch to the next, growing irritated with every passing second. She had been searching for almost two hours now. It was all well and good for Papa to send her out on a mission to someone who desperately needed help. However, she couldn't exactly help anybody if she had no idea as to how to get to them. As usual, Papa only concerned himself with giving her the broad picture. He didn't really seem to care about the minor details such as directions to the distressed individual in question. Or at least some idea as to where she needed to be. No, all that was up to Sam to figure out for herself. Good thing she and Papa had informants posted practically everywhere in the forest that could provide some sort of clue, otherwise she'd be wandering around in circles. Still, as many eyes as they had watching everywhere, those eyes weren't always able to spot every single inch. So Sam sometimes ended up having to guess where to go next. And after a few too many dead ends and wrong turns, she was starting to get frustrated. Her growling empty stomach did nothing to help appease her bad mood. So much for Papa's promise about being back home before supper.

Just as she was thinking she had made yet another wrong turn, a whistle sounded above her head. She lifted her head up to see that on the branch above her was a violet-blue bulb covered in dark purplish spots sprouting out from a thick stem. Seeing that he had Sam's attention, he nodded towards the ground. She looked down and finally saw her. Her stem had already given up long before Sam had even got there and had collapsed, drooping her entire body down to the ground. Her once sparkling white petals that had covered her head had all fallen except for two. And even those petals no longer even remotely resembled what they once were, for they were all shriveled and brown. Finally, Sam had found who she was looking for.

Sam only needed to touch the trunk of the tree for him to know exactly what she wanted. A large, leafy, thick vine appeared before her feet. She stepped onto it and held on tight as the vine lowered her back down. When she was low enough, she jumped off and started walking to the sick little flower. Poor thing. No wonder Papa sent her here. All previous unpleasant thoughts Sam had towards her geographically-challenged father had disappeared as she knelt down and stroked the little's flower's weak stem. Sam placed both hands on top of her new patient, covering her up entirely. It didn't take long for Sam to feel the energy flowing through her arms and out through her fingertips. A few nearby flowers and bulbs all watched with interest as the surrounding soil under her hands lit up as if a light had been struck deep beneath the dirt. She kept her hands there for a few more seconds before drawing them away. Sam could no longer see that sickly, weak little flower. In her place was a flower whose re-hydrated stem lifted her head up high so that the world may see her new hair of pure, snow white petals sprout and blossom up towards the sun.

The surrounding vegetation who had been lucky enough to watch this miracle stared in amazement not only at their cured friend, but also at her savior. If anyone in the forest had any sort of doubt that Sam was their queen, it was all gone now. For only a queen would be able to perform such an amazing feat. Well, only a queen and her father, that is. No one can ever forget about him, now could they?

Satisfied that all was now well, Sam stood up and brushed the dirt off her little green dress. It was long past supper time and Sam wanted to go back home now. Fortunately, the way back wasn't nearly as difficult as the way before. Since she didn't need to rely on her informants or guess at almost every other turn, she was able to make it back home in a little over forty minutes. Sam walked to a large clearing in the forest and sat down with an exhausted sigh.

"Well, Papa," she said, wiping her brow, "It wasn't easy, but I was able to help cure her. No thanks to your incredibly vague directions."

A low rumble started from beneath the ground. Then a small stalk sprouted out right next to where Sam was sitting. The rumbling grew louder and the stalk grew taller. An arm formed on the growing stalk, and Sam soon found herself sitting in the middle of a palm of a green hand. The stalk was soon wearing a leafy green cloak with mushroom-capped shoulder pads. Vines started to grow on the front and sharp, black thorns grew from its top all the way down to its back. Red eyes and a giant beak formed soon afterwords and scowled at the smiling girl sitting in his hand.

"I did not give you vague directions," he argued, "I was very clear."

"Clear?" Sam snorted, "A 'look for a patch of wild flowers around some sort of tree' isn't exactly clear. We live in a forest! We're surrounded by wild flowers and tree!"

"I still told you where to go. It's not my fault you don't listen!"

"Oh, right," she rolled her eyes, "How stupid of me. I should have listened and went 'left of that green tree over that way. Or, maybe you're supposed to go right. Wait! Is that even the right tree? I think you should go to that tree! Or maybe this one!'"

"Alright, alright! You've made your point! Even so, you were able to figure it out eventually."

"Yeah. It only took, oh, about two hours of dead ends."

"Look," he said, turning his scowl into a proud smile, "You were able to find her eventually and restore her back to health. And that, my dear daughter, is all that matters right now."

He raised Sam up so she could reach his beak which she promptly hugged. After approximately five seconds later, he lowered his hand down to his shoulder pad and allowed her to climb up on top. She latched herself onto one of the thorns sticking out and prepared herself for Papa's walk toward their supper.

"Now then," he said as he started to move, "Let's eat. I'm just about starving!"


	2. Chapter 2

Dan flew through the swirling, dark emerald skies, racing through the green abyss and knocking over anyone unfortunate enough to get in his way. Every few minutes, he would reach down and feel for the metal thermos at his waist to reassure himself it was still there, but otherwise kept going. It's not that there was really any need for him to rush. He just wanted to get this stupid exchange over with as little interaction with his current employer as possible. The guy gave Dan the creeps. The sooner he got paid, the sooner Dan would be done with him, at least for the next few months anyway.

Finally, he arrived at his destination. Why the guy wanted to live in a giant clock tower, Dan would probably never know. All it did was just add to the creepiness factor, but then again, maybe that's exactly what his employer wanted. Not that he really needed any help. Just that smile of his was more than enough. It was like he knew some little secret about you. A little secret that even you yourself know about. A secret he refused to share. And all this seemed to amuse him. Whenever his employer would give Dan that little smile, Dan couldn't help but feel a small chill go down his spine.

Seeing that he was now close to the giant clock face, Dan phased through and landed on his feet. It was completely dark inside, but his white, flame-like hair provided enough light for him to see. He looked around, but all saw nothing except the giant gears lining the walls slowly turn and click. His employer didn't seem to be home.

"Come on, come on," he muttered and slowly moved along the room, "Where are you, you little-"

"Now, now, Phantom," a voice said next to him, "There's no need for name-calling."

Dan turned his head to the left and nearly jumped out of his skin. What had only been nothing but empty space just a second earlier was now occupied a blue-skinned figure clad in a purple cloak. The cloaked figure, for the moment, seemed to be that of a young man. But just a few seconds later, and suddenly he was an elderly man. A few seconds more would soon transform him into a young child and the cycle would begin again. No matter what age he was, he seemed to be rather amused at having startled the his new guest.

"Don't do that, Clockwork!" Dan shouted.

Clockwork ignored him and held out his hand, "You have who I want."

"That supposed to be a question?"

"Of course not. I already know you have him. Then again, I do know-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Dan rolled his eyes as he unfastened the thermos from his waistband, "You know everything."

Clockwork nodded and gave him that smile. Dan gave an involuntary shudder as he continued to fumble with the clip. He quickly looked away and finally got the container free. Clockwork reached for the thermos, but Dan held it up high in the air. The now child Clockwork scowled at him and waved his hands about as he tried to reach. Deciding to have a little fun, Dan lowered the thermos just where the child could finally grasp it before yanking it back up, making him topple to the floor. Chuckling, Dan dangled the thermos in the air and shook his head.

"Ah, ah, ah," he tsked, "First, my fee."

Suddenly, Dan let out a yelp and fell to the floor as adult Clockwork sucker punched him right in the gut. Clockwork grabbed the thermos that was now rolling on the floor and stood up.

"It's on the table across the room," he replied with a chortle.

Dan growled as he peeled himself off the floor and got back up on his feet. Muttering insults under his breath, he stomped over to where a metal case had been laid. He snatched it up and started to fly back up to where he had just entered. No need to count the money. It was always the agreed amount every time he came here.

"Pretty girl, that Samantha," Clockwork spoke up just as Dan was about to leave.

"Oh, what the hell are you babbling about?"

"Daughter of Undergrowth," Clockwork continued without answering, "Most call her the Queen of the Forest. Interesting girl, that one."

"Why are you telling me this?" Dan crossed his arms and glared down.

Clockwork let out another one of those smiles. Dan shuddered again, but held his stance. He locked eyes with the elderly figure below, waiting for an answer. Silence. He grew uneasy with each passing second. Finally, Clockwork spoke.

"Just thought you'd like to know."

Then he disappeared. Dan stood there dumbfounded for a minute. Finally, he shook his head and headed out. Whatever mind game Clockwork was trying to play wasn't going to work. Dan was just going to go home, relax, and forget about that kid, or old man, or whatever the hell he was. A complete nutcase, that's what he was.

Twenty minutes later, Dan was napping on his couch after having dozed while reading a magazine. A knock on his door woke him up with a jolt. He groggily shook his head as the knocking continued on. Still drowsy, he got up and walked towards the front door.

"Yeah, yeah," he muttered, "I'm coming."

He reached the door and opened it, but no one was there. Instead, an envelope was placed down on the porch. Dan took it and flipped it to the other side looking for his mysterious visitor's name, but found none. He shrugged as he opened the envelope and took out its contents.

 _Bring this girl alive to the provided address below and you shall be rewarded with a sum of $500,000._

Dan let out a low whistle and carefully examined the picture underneath. A pretty young woman looked back at him with her amethyst colored eyes. Her raven, black hair flowed down to her bare shoulders and ended slightly above the neckline of a forest, green dress. Beneath her photograph was the name _Samantha, Queen of the Forest._

Dan blinked in surprise at the name. He stood confused for a moment before shouting out into the air.

"Dammit, Clockwork! Quit messing with my head!"


	3. Chapter 3

Sam ran through the pitch black woods frantically searching for an escape. Her heart pounded in her chest with each step upon the dry, rocky ground. She passed dead tree after tree. Their branches snagged onto her clothes and tangled themselves into her hair. She twisted herself out of their grasp and continued on, desperately searching for something, anything! A road, a light, a person. Anything that could point her to an escape route! But she never could find any such thing. It was all just this dark, dead woods. And her.

Sam finally came to a stop and sank to the ground. Her body trembled and tears streamed down her face. Alone. All alone. With no way out. No way back. No where else to go. Just her. What would she do? What will happen to her? How will she get out? Would she ever get out?

Sam looked up. In front of her was a large, black tree with a fat, thick trunk. Its bare, dead branches drooped to the ground as if sharing her sadness. She sniffled and wiped away the tears as she stood up and walked towards the tree. She started to climb up it's dry branches, surprised that they were strong enough to support her weight. She climbed higher and higher until she was at the very top. She looked and surveyed around her. Nothing. She sniffled again, wiping away a falling tear. Finally, in complete despair, Sam let out a loud, anguished cry.

Sam sat straight up with a start. Panting, she frantically looked around her. It was dark, yes, but the dead woods was gone. In its place was the lush vegetation she had last seen before drifting off. Sam let out a huge, relieved sigh. It was just that nightmare again. The same one that had been haunting her ever since she was a little girl. She got up from her leafy bed on the grass. Experience had taught her it would be a few hours before she would be able to fall asleep again. Might as well wander around for a while.

Sam walked and passed bulb after bulb. Each one had their vines curled up as they snored away upon the treetops. Sam snorted as she walked along. Nice to know they could have a peaceful sleep. They weren't constantly plagued by nightmares almost every single night. They didn't find themselves lost and running around in terror only to scream themselves awake. So, why must she?

Suddenly, Sam stopped. She stood absolutely still and listened. Just the snores of her friends above her and her own shallow breathing. Still, she couldn't help feeling uneasy. Something wasn't right, here. A chill went down her spine as she cautiously took a step. Silence. Another step. Again, nothing. She slowly turned her head until she was staring straight ahead of her. She gasped. A bright set of crimson eyes stared back at her.

Before Sam could figure out what was happening, a white blur charged at her and pinned her to the ground. She looked up at the face smirking down at her. His fiery, bright hair provided enough light for her to see the strange letters on his broad chest. A D and P that seemed to morph together into one to form a symbol. A symbol that she knew almost every ghost here in the Ghost Zone all feared. The symbol of the hunter Phantom. This couldn't be him, could it?

Phantom or not, Sam knew she really didn't have much time to figure it out. She struggled as he reached down to some cylindrical object on his belt. Realizing she was getting nowhere, she pressed the back of her hand down hard onto the ground. Thick vines shot up at the Phantom and slammed him into a nearby tree. She got up and pointed at him. The vines started wrapping themselves around him, pinning his arms tight to his sides and squeezed. He grunted as he struggled to get free until finally, green ecto-rays shot out from his hands and blasted the vines into pieces. Sam gasped and ran as he growled and chased after her. The commotion had awoken the plants above. They looked down to see their friend being chased by some strange man blasting ecto-rays at her. They snarled and shot themselves down to her rescue.

Hearing something above him, he looked up. Dark blue flower bulbs that were once still upon the trees were now charging at him with their thick stems. He dodged between them as they snapped at him with their large, sharp teeth. After a few minutes, he had enough and summoned a great, large ball of ecto-energy before firing. The blast was enough to scare some back into their trees, but others kept charging. Another large blast left those that remained all dazed upon the ground. He looked back and realized his prey had run off. He let out a frustrated growl as he soared up into the air. This soon proved to be a mistake, for he once again found himself being chased by sentient, and apparently, carnivorous plants. He raced through them, blasting away any who dared to get to close. After what seemed like hours, he finally found a clearing with a tall and completely carnivorous bulb-free tree. He landed on one of its branches and looked down. Leaning against the tree was the queen herself. Smirking, he reached for the thermos on his belt.

"Sorry, your Highness," he murmured.

Sam heard the Phantom above her. She looked up and saw him reaching for the same cylindrical weapon. She waved her hand above her head and the branch he was standing on threw him off. He yelped as he shot through the air and landed face first into the dirt. Sam climbed up on the tree as it lowered its branches to her. She raced across the vines, going from tree to tree until she felt someone grab her arm and slam her back down to the ground. Groaning, she looked up to see the Phantom aiming the weapon at her. She was blinded by a bright flash and was forced to cover her eyes. The flash soon disappeared, but she kept her eyes tightly closed.

"What the-?"

Sam cautiously opened one eye as the Phantom looked down in confusion at the weapon. He shook it in irritation and aimed it again. Again, she was blinded by a bright flash and again she kept her eyes closed even after it disappeared.

"Come on!" the Phantom growled, "What's wrong with this stupid thing?"

Taking her chance, Sam pointed at him, sending a vine straight after him. He cried out as it wrapped itself around him and dropped the weapon. She waved her arm to and fro and With each movement, the vine slammed him to the ground in whatever direction its Queen desired. Satisfied that the Phantom would be occupied for a while, Sam picked up the weapon. Curious, she turned it over in her hand and studied it. It appeared to be some sort of metal thermos with neon green wires streaming down all around it and two small buttons placed near its bottom. She looked back towards the Phantom, still being tossed around. Smirking, she took the cap off the thermos. Time to see what this baby could do.

She raised up her hand and signaled the vine to stop. It did so, hanging the Phantom upside-down as he groaned in pain. Seeing that she had the thermos, he widened his eyes in alarm as Sam aimed the thermos at him and pushed one of the buttons. A blinding flash erupted from it and headed towards Phantom. She looked on in amazement as she felt the thermos sucking him inside. The Phantom screamed as he struggled against the vacuum to no avail. Finally, the flash was gone along with her hunter. Smoke blew out of the mouth of the thermos as all was quiet again.

Wow. Neat toy. Sam smiled as she capped the thermos. But she didn't have long to gloat, however. A loud, piercing wail suddenly erupted from the thermos, causing her to drop it and cover her ears. As the wail continued, green cracks spread all across the cylinder prison. Sam cursed as she started to run. It only made sense that the Phantom knew how to escape his own weapons, so why had it not occurred to her he might be able to break out this one? She didn't know, but what she did know is that when he broke free, he was definitely not going to be happy.

An ecto-blast hit her square in the back and sent her off flying head-first towards a tree. She hit the trunk hard and fell to the ground. She tried to get back up, but a hard blow to the head knocked her back down. She saw the now cracked and busted thermos land near her face, realizing that he had thrown it at her.

"Enough of this," he growled, heading straight for her.

"I agree."

The Phantom turned in confusion only to have a giant hand slap him away like an annoying gnat. Sam smiled in relief as her Papa quickly scooped her up in his hand. He looked around, waiting for him to come back. After a few minutes, he looked up at the bulbs watching him anxiously.

"Well!" he snapped as they hastily retreated, "Don't just stand there! Look for him!"

Sam sighed and finally allowed herself to relax. As she laid down, she spotted the broken thermos next to her. Apparently, Papa scooped up everything around Sam in his rush to rescue her. She took it in her hand and stared at it as she realized something. Why did the thermos work on the Phantom, but not her?


	4. Chapter 4

Sam didn't sleep for the rest of the night. She was to preoccupied with the thermos. She had examined every square inch of both the outside and inside of the container. Perhaps there was some sort of clue about why it had refused to imprison her. Finding nothing, she then pressed the same button as before when she had managed to trap the Phantom. Nothing happened. The blinding flash refused to show up. She pushed the next button. Again, nothing. She wasn't exactly surprised. Whatever the Phantom did to break free had all but completely obliterated the thermos entirely. She then shook the thermos. Maybe there was a clue hidden inside. But all that came out were some loose screws and a couple of broken springs. Sam growled irritably and glared at the thermos. There had to be some reason it wouldn't suck her in. So, why couldn't she figure it out?

By the time morning came, Undergrowth had found Sam lying on her back while tossing the thermos up into the air and catch it as it fell back down like a ball.

"What is that thing?" he asked.

"Dunno," she shrugged, "The Phantom had it."

"If he was carrying that, it must be dangerous. Get rid of it."

"Thing is, Papa, " Sam continued, ignoring him, "When he tried to use it against me, it wouldn't work."

"Well, let's not encourage a second chance. Get rid of it!"

"But when I used it against him, it did work. But, why though? Why him, but not me?"

"Does it matter? Get rid of it! Or better yet..."

He snatched the thermos just as Sam had tossed it in the air and heaved it into the dense foilage. It soared rapidly into the trees until it was no longer in sight.

"Hey!" she protested, sitting upright, "Thanks a lot! Now I"ll never be able to figure it out!"

"Oh, never mind that," Undergrowth waved his hand in a dismissive gesture, "That's not what bothers me. What bothers me is why he's here."

"I think he made that kind of clear when he tried to catch me, Papa."

"Yes, I know that. I'm not stupid. I mean why though? Why you?"

"He didn't say anything? Strange. Usually they start talking as soon as they see your children's sharp teeth."

"My children weren't able to find him last night," he sighed, "They found somebody else, but not him."

"Huh?" Sam blinked in surprise, "Somebody else is here? Well, what did he say then?"

"Oh, he's just some random human. Probably a traveler that got lost. It wouldn't be the first time. I told them to leave him alone. Besides, he's fast asleep. He's not able to say anything. I'm sure he'll leave as soon as he wakes up."

"But, Papa," she stood up, "How do you know he hasn't got anything to do with the Phantom?"

"I highly doubt some human has even heard of the Phantom, let alone have any associations with him. Which brings me back to my original question. Why is he hunting you? As far as I know, he usually goes after ghosts."

Sam stared at Undergrowth for a moment before asking him, "Wait, what- What are you saying?"

"I said-"

He stopped as he noticed her staring back at him. His cheeks blushed a bright green color as he realized what he had accidentally revealed. Undergrowth held up his hands as if fending her off and quickly tried to backtrack.

"Wait, wait! That's- That's not what I meant! What I mean is- Erm, I mean, what I'm trying to say is-"

"I'm- I'm not a ghost?" Sam asked, slowly.

"I never said that!"

"But you just said the Phantom usually hunts ghosts."

"Other ghosts! I meant he hunts other ghosts!"

He gave Sam an unconvincing smile. She crossed her arms and glared.

"Papa? What are you hiding?"

"Nothing, my dear child! Absolutely nothing!"

"The truth, Papa!"

For another minute, Undergrowth refused to say anything. Finally he hanged down his head and made a huge sigh.

"Alright, you win. No, you're not a ghost. You're human."

"H-Human?" she repeated, slowly, "So, that's why the thermos didn't work. It must be designed to trap ghosts, not humans. But, I still don't understand something, how can I possibly be-"

"Precisely," Undergrowth interrupted and attempted to change the subject, "Human. Which is why I'm confused as to why the Phantom's after you at all. I know what I'll do! As soon as the children find him-"

"Papa! Stop it! I know what you're doing!"

"Well, Sam, really, I don't know what else you expect me to do! You're human! That's the end of it! I can't do anything else!"

"You can tell me why you've been lying to me my entire life!"

"Well," he answered, looking frantically around for an excuse to leave the conversation, "You seemed to have forgotten about it a few months after I brought you home, so, I didn't see any reason to bring it up!"

"Brought me home? I'm not from here? But, where did I come from then?"

"Sam, really. What does all this have to do with anything? It was all over twenty years ago. Why bring up what's all been done and forgotten?"

"You haven't forgotten about it."

"Why are we arguing about this? It's not important anymore. It hasn't been important for over twenty years."

"Well, it's important now, Papa!"

"Why? If it was so important, you would have remembered."

"Well, it's important because..." Sam quickly tried to think of somethingto keep her father talking, "Because maybe it could help explain why the Phantom's after me!"

Undergrowth raised up one of his vined eyebrows as if unconvinced, but he kept silent.

"See," she continued, "The Phantom doesn't just hunt people on his own. He's a mercenary. He gets paid to hunt them down. Maybe, if you tell me more about my past, we can figure out who would want me captured!"

"Or," he said, "We could have the children torture Phantom and make him tell us who hired him. Seems to me to be the easiest solution."

"Sure," Sam crossed her arms, "Except they can't find him. He's probably not here anymore."

"He'll come back."

"Papa, please!"

Undergrowth looked down into her large, wide eyes as they filled with tears. Her pouting mouth trembled and she sniffled twice for good measure. He knew perfectly well she was faking it. Not that it deterred her any. Or kept him from falling for it every single time.

"You know I hate it when you do that," he sighed.

Her pout turned into a smile as he lowered his hand down to her level. She jumped on and he carried her up to his shoulder where she jumped off.

"Truth is," he continued as he summoned the vines to wrap themselves around him in preparation for his for transport, "I really don't know much of your past. All I know is where I found you."

Sam felt a strong wind blow into her face and through her hair as they teleported from their home. The wind suddenly stoped. The vines unwrapped themselves as soon as they landed, allowing Sam to see dead trees surrounding them.

"What is this place?" she asked as he let her down.

"Where I found you," he answered, sadly, "Here in this dead woods in the human world. I had been alerted to some plant life growing where it shouldn't, so I came to investigate."

Sam stood a few steps forward. The rocky ground felt rather sharp and uncomfortable against her bare feet, but she didn't care. She looked around and realized that she recognized this place. It was the woods where she had gotten herself lost in over the years of countless nightmares. It wasn't so frighting now that it was daylight, but the constant view of endless dead vegetation was still rather eerie. She took a few steps more until she was standing in front of that large tree with the drooping branches and the fat trunk. The one she would climb in every single one of those nightmares.

Undergrowth followed her and pointed up to the very top of the tree, "That's where I found you. Your very touch was enough to bring a few branches back to life, though not the entire tree. You were too small to be able to do that yet."

Without answering, Sam grabbed hold of a branch and starte to climb. Having climbed this tree for years, even if it was only a dream, she already knew which branch to place her feet upon next and which would snap with just a single touch. She was quickly able to get up to the top and surveyed the land. Nothing but rocks and dead trees. Just like she's seen before countless times. Why was she expecting anything different? It was never different in her dreams, so why would she expect any different now? And just what exactly was she looking for?

"There has to be something," she murmured to herself.

She climbed back down and went back to her father.

"Why was I here? Where was everybody else?"

"As I said, my dear, I don't know much about your past," he shrugged, "All I know is you were huddled up in that tree all by yourself. No one else was around. No one's supposed to be around. This place is completely deserted."

"Yet you found me here," she muttered, rubbing her chin in thought, "There has to be something else."

"Well, whatever else there was, it's gone now. Now, let's go home."

He lowered his hand back down, but she shook her head and refused to hop back on.

"I'm staying here."

"Sam, don't be ridiculous."

"I'm not being ridiculous, Papa. I'm staying here! I need to find out who I am!"

"You're my daughter, Samantha, Queen of the Forest! Now, let's go home!"

"No! I mean, who I really am! Who I was before I was Queen of the Forest!"

"It's been over twenty years," he took his hand back and folded his arms across his chest, "It's going to be impossible!"

Sam turned around and refused to answer. Still, Papa did have a point. What was Sam expecting to find after twenty years? It was going to be impossible to find anything about her past. Not that she was going to admit that out loud, of course.

"Let's go home," Undergrowth urged, "We need to plan out our defense against the Phantom."

"You know," Sam said, starting to get an idea, "If I just go back home, it's just going to make the Phantom's job easier."

"What are you talking about? I've got the children spying on every inch of our lair. Not to mention the giant flytraps and pitcher plants are rather hungry. They're favorite food is unwanted trespassers, you know!"

"The Phantom's had more than enough time to figure out where all the children are hiding. He's not stupid, you know. People hire him because he's good at his job. He'll find some way to capture me sooner or later. If I go back home, I'm just going to walk straight into his trap."

"But-"

"But," she interrupted, "If I stay here in the human world, he won't find me! And why would he? I've never been here before. Well, not for over twenty years, at least. So, I should be safe!"

"I don't know about this..." Undergrowth said, uncertainly.

"Please, Papa!"

Again with the fake pout and tears. Why was it he was never able to resist?

"Why do I get the feeling I'm going to regret this?" he sighed.

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" Sam ran up to the bottom of his stalk and gave him a big hug, "Don't worry, Papa! I'll be safe! I promise!"

"I hope so."

He gave the girl a soft, gentle pat on her head as she broke the embrace. They looked at each other sadly and waved each other farewell as the vines surrounded themselves around Undergrowth once more. Then he was gone and Sam was all alone in the dark, dreary woods. Only this time, it wasn't a dream.


	5. Chapter 5

Dan woke up with his head pounding. He raised his hand to his forehead and began to massage it, hoping that this would help with at least some of the pain. He looked around. It was daylight now, but other than that, everything still looked the same. Nothing but green foilage and vegetation for as far as the eye could see. At least that giant stalk, or tree, or whatever it was that knocked Dan unconscious, didn't smack him out of the Queen's lair entirely.

Feeling a little better, he started to stand up. That's when Dan noticed he had changed back into his human form. His blue skin was gone and his once fiery, white hair was now limp and black. His black and white jumpsuit was gone and in its place was a black tee shirt and a pair of jeans. Dan really wasn't too surprised to see this. Though he acted as if he were full ghost, truth was he was only half. Most of the time he stayed in his ghost form, but unfortunately, he was forced to change back to his human half when he got too weak. A rather embarrassing trait that he hoped the Queen hadn't discovered.

He looked up. The carnivorous plants from last night were still there. They were all wide awake and looking down at him with salivia dripping down their sharp teeth. Curiously though, they didn't move. They were all growling and staring at him, but otherwise remained up in their trees. He didn't know if it was because they didn't recognize him, or because they were ordered to be still. If it was the former, why didn't they attack him? Somehow, he got the feeling that even human strangers were unwelcome here. But, if it was the latter, then what was the Queen up to?

Keepin an eye on the plants above, Dan cautiously took a step forward. Nothing. They all remained still. He took another step. They didn't move. He sped up the pace. Not one of them moved. Convinced that the plants wouldn't do anything to him, for now at least, Dan sped up to a normal walking pace. He wandered around the dense forest, cursing under his breath along the way as he found himself getting lost. How the hell the Queen managed to find her way through here, he would never know. Nor would he ever even get the chance to ask if he couldn't find her.

With a frustrated yell, he kicked at the ground with all his might. His foot made contact with something hard and he let out a pained yowl. He began hopping on his good foot while grabbing on his now injured one. When the throbbing on his big toe stopped, Dan looked to see what he kicked. It looked like some sort of metal object. He couldn't really tell because he had kicked itforward a few feet. He walked up to it and looked at it with confusion. It was his broken thermos. Thanks to his ghostly wail that he was forced to use after he got trapped inside, it was all charred and the green wires were no longer lit up. He picked it up and examined it closely. All the other ghosts he captured were all able to be sucked inside the thermos, so why couldn't the Queen? What power did she possess that enabled her to prevent her from being trapped inside?

He didn't have much time to figure it out, for a green little stalk poked up from the grass next to him. Dan arched one of his eyebrows as he looked down at it. Then the stalk grew taller until it had reached the sky. He took a step back as the stalk began to grow arms and facial features appeared at what Dan presumed to be its head. That's when he realized this was the same thing that had came to the Queen's aid last night and knocked him out.

"Who dares to disturb my children!" the overgrown stalk shouted.

"Uh... Um..."

Dan didn't really know what to say. Honestly, what does one say when they come face to face with a giant, talking plant? The stalk bent over until its huge, red eyes were level to Dan's face.

"Well?" it demanded, "Why did you cry out and disturb my children?"

"Oh, that," Dan mumbled, sheepishly as his face turned red, "I... uh... stubbed my toe."

"Hmm," the plant didn't seem to pleased with his answer, "What are you doing here anyway, human? Bad enough I've got some rogue ghost stalking about in my lair! I don't need to deal with a human, too!"

A sigh of relief threatened to escape Dan's mouth, but he kept silent. Evidently, staying in his human form was a good call.

"Speak, human!"

"Right," Dan answered, "Uh, I got... I got... lost?"

The giant plant narrowed its eyes in suspicion. Dan put on the most innocent face he could muster. Finally, the plant retreated, seemingly satisfied with his answer.

"I'd ask you how you even got into the Ghost Zone, let alone my lair. But, right now, I don't care. My children and I need to get back to searching for that Phantom hunter."

Dan wondered if this thing considered the Queen one of his children, but if he asked about her outright, then that apparently non-fairytale giant beanstalk would just get suspicious. He had to play his hand carefully.

"Gee," Dan said, looking around him as if he were just some curious bystander, "Must be hard taking care of all these children all by yourself."

"It is difficult, yes," the plant responded with a proud smile on its face, "But, as you can see for yourself, it's worth it. Of course, I also have my daughter-"

It suddenly stopped. The smile fell into a depressed frown. Uh-oh. Dan hoped that this "daughter" of that beaky asparagus thing wasn't the Queen. And if she was... Dan mentally cursed again. Hopefully, whatever it was that caused this beaky plant bird to look sad, assuming of course that it was about her, that it wasn't permanent.

"Your daughter..." he urged the plant to continue.

"Never mind," it snapped, narrowing its eyes back at him, "You're disturbing my children! Now, get out!"

With a wave of its hand, it surrounded Dan with a bright, green aura and lifted him into the air. Dan was sent into a gaping hole that had opened up behid him. Suddenly, the aura disappeared and Dan landed onto the grass again. This time, however, the vegetation was gone and the sky was no longer a dark green. Twittering birds soared through the blue sky into their nests where hungry little babies awaited their meals. Dammit. That thing sent him to the human world. He needed to get back to the Ghost Zone. Dan looked around and spotted a familiar sign. _Welcome to Amity Park._ Well, at least it took him here. Besides, it wouldn't hurt to pick up a few things before heading back.


	6. Chapter 6

Jazz sighed in relief as she hung up the phone. Finally! At long last! She placed the phone down at the kitchen table she was seated at and smiled. She barely even noticed the large, cardboard boxes filled up and taped shut occupying the majority of the kitchen. She had only a week left before she finally moved out of here. Until now, the only job offers she got were always about ghosts. Ghost hunting, ghost chasing, ghost communicating. This is exactly why she was moving out of Amity Park. Because her entire life had been nothing but ghosts, thanks to her mother. Back when she was alive, her mother wasn't just some ghost hunter, but an expert as well. She knew all about their powers, their habits, their weaknesses, their biology, their ecology. The list just went on.

After her death, everyone here expected Jazz to pick up the torch. And she did for the next few years. At first, she tried the academic approach and attempted to finish that paper her mother hoped would be published in some academic ghost physiology journal. Jazz soon found herself bored to tears. She soon quit that and decided it would be a good idea to hunt down the ghosts loose throughout the town, just like her mother did. That soon proved to be problematic, for quite often, whatever ghost Jazz was attempting to capture would usually outsmart her somehow and leave her battered, bruised, and slimed. Then Jazz thought perhaps it would be better if she started smaller, like making house calls to those who claim a ghost was haunting their old, spooky house. Yet again, this turned out disasterous, as the house would usually end up looking worse after she had caught the ghost, if she even caught the ghost at all.

Sick of being beaten, frustrated, and humiliated, Jazz called it quits. Obviously, she wasn't cut out to be a ghost hunter. But, If she wasn't going to hunt, then what was left? She had a degree in psychology. Maybe now was the time to put it to good use. For the next few weeks she filled out applications almost everyday. School counselor, human resources, whatever she could find, quite sure that someone would soon hire her. Her optimism faded away over the next few months after recieving almost nothing but rejections from potential work oppurtunities. Most likely because they were worried the ghosts would follow Jazz into her new career.

That's not to say she didn't get job offers. Other ghost hunters and teams of ghost experts would call almost everyday. Some were filming a TV show, some weren't. But all were trying to use her mother's name for their own fame. And since her mother was gone now, they went for the next best thing. For once, she just wanted to be someone other than "the ghost hunter's girl," or "Maddie's kid." Or for those who've actually seen Jazz work, "the not very good ghost hunter." And now she finally found something. A daycamp counselor. It wasn't anything big, but it was a start.

A knock on the door interrupted her celebrating.

"Oh, now what," she said.

Her mood started to dampen as she imagined what ghost TV show producer had come to harass her this time. Jazz stomped over to the door and yanked it open.

"Oh!" she cried out in surprise, "It's only-"

Her visitor shoved opened the door as he rushed in, nearly knocking Jazz into the wall.

"I'm in a bit of a hurry," he said, brushing back a strand of his long, dark hair, "I'm in the middle of a hunt and I need to restock. Quickly."

"Uh, sure," Jazz answered, shutting the door, "Dan, right? I've got everything down at the lab."

He followed her down to the basement. Her mother had converted it into a laboratory shortly after buying the house. This is where she would conduct her experiments for her studies and create her line Fenton Works gadgets. The lab used to be filled to the brim with lasers, bazookas, weird chemicals that Jazz could never pronounce, and other ecto related junk. Now, it was all just bare shelves filled with dust and a few loose bolts. The bare floor needed to be swept, which Jazz had promised herself she'd do after moving those boxes all piled in the corner out of the way. She opened one of those boxes and started digging through its contents.

"I assume you want the usual?" she asked.

"Mm-hmm."

"Good, 'cause that's all I've got left," Jazz pulled out a white backpack with neon green zippers and a green "Fenton" slapped onto its front, "Now, remember, after this week, I'm gone for good. If you need to restock, you're going to have to go to-"

"Yeah, yeah," Dan interrupted as he grabbed the backpack,"I remember. How much do I owe you?"

"On the house. I just want to get rid of what I've got."

He shrugged and started to head up the stairs. Then he stopped for a moment and turned back towards her.

"There's thermoses in here, right?"

"Yeah," Jazz answered, looking at him strangely, "Why?"

"'Cause what I'm hunting... How come she couldn't-" Dan stopped as if thinking better of it, "Nevermind."

He climbed up a few more steps before asking her another question.

"You ever hear of this ghost called the Queen of the Forest?"

"No," Jazz shook her head, "Why?"

He paused for a moment and stared at the wall in thought. Then he shook his head and walked up the stairs and out the door. Jazz continued to stare at the steps long after Dan had left.

"Queen of the Forest?" she wondered out loud.

What did he mean by that? Maybe she was the ghost he was hunting, perhaps? But, why did he seem so concerned about the thermoses? What was it this Queen, assuming that's the ghost he was hunting, could do to them? Or, couldn't do to them?

Jazz shook her head as if trying to shake the thoughts out of her brain.

"What am I doing?" she asked herself, "I'm not doing this ghost stuff anymore. So, why do I care?"

She began to stomp up the stairs.

"Still," she stopped, "I don't remember anything in Mom's notes about a Queen of the Forest. Maybe..."

Jazz thought for another minute. Since she was about to give up ghosts for good, she didn't see the need to go research about this Queen. But if the Queen decided to attack, it would be nice to have some information about her. But, Mom didn't have any info on her. Mom's friend, however...

Jazz heaved a long sigh. Oh, well. Looks like it would be just a few more days before she could retire from all things ghosts.


	7. Chapter 7

As soon as Dan exited the house, he sprinted into a nearby darkened alley. He checked to be sure no one else was with him. Coast was clear. He transformed back into his ghost self, feeling relieved as he looked over his now blue arm. Much better. He hated that weaker half. No powers, no thrill, and worst of all, no way to make money if he stayed human for too long. The last thing he needed was for the other ghosts to discover what was going on and laugh him out of a job. Speaking of jobs...

Dan turned himself invisible and flew up into the air. If he was going to complete this job, he needed to get back into the Ghost Zone pronto. Once upon a time, Jazz's mother, Maddie Fenton had a portal that opened up to the Ghost Zone. But Jazz dismantled it soon after her mom died. Why, he didn't know. Perhaps to get rid of the ghosts, perhaps to get rid of the memories. Either way, he didn't have an easy access back to where he needed to be. Which meant he was going to have to go the long way.

Now, the long way usually consisted of a two hour drive by car for a human. For a ghost, however, the trip wasn't more then thirty minutes of flight. Which is exactly how long Dan flew before finally landing onto the rocky ground. He was outside of Amity Park now. Gone were the bright, cheery buildings and its beautiful park with its sparkling lake. In its place were gray rocks and fallen dead trees as far as the eye could see. Good. That meant the natural portal was nearby. Of course, there were natural portals into the Ghost Zone all over the world, but the closest one to Amity Park was right here in these woods. And as soon as Dan found it, the chase after the Queen would be back on.

Dan's legs grew tired and his back ached from the weight of his gear. He stopped for a break and let the backpack fall to the ground. As he was massaging his sore shoulder, he heard a small _snap_ of a twig. Only that sound wasn't from him. He paused and cocked his head. Another _snap._ Apparently, this woods wasn't as abandoned as he thought. He took his feet off the ground and levitated himself over to where the snapping was. He turned himself invisible and peeked behind one of the trees. Dan let out a gasp and widened his eyes in surprise. There she was! The Queen! He watched her as she slowly passed by the trees with her gaze curiously looking about her surroundings.

What was she doing here? Trying to find a way to bring these trees back to life? Not that she would really have any trouble. She could probably do so in a blink of an eye. But if that were the case, why doesn't she just do it already? No, she had to be doing something else. Dan followed her as she walked on. Not only was the Queen just looking, she also seemed to be carefully examining almost every branch, rock, and whatever else happened to be in her path as she passed by. She's looking for something. But what? And why would it be in the human world of all places?

Then she stopped. She leaned her head forward, raised a hand to her eyes, and squinted. Dan turned to see what she was looking at. Just ahead of them was something white with what looked like a word written on it in bright green. His eyes widened up again, this time in alarm. Dammit! His backpack! He'd forgotten all about it! He cursed as the Queen went up to his bag and kneeled down to examine it. She picked it up and placed it on her knees before opening it up. He heard her let out an audible "Huh?" as she looked inside. Her hand went in and took out a thermos.

"What the-?" she said, looking at it in shock, "That looks like the one-"

Dan didn't let her finish. He raised up his hand and blasted her in the back of the head with an ecto-blast. As soon as she was down, he flew up to her and snatched the pack away. He drew out another thermos and aimed it at her. But before he could press the button, she whacked him in the side of his head with the thermos she was still holding. She dropped it and ran. He gave chase with the bag in one hand and his own thermos in the other. He aimed directly behind her and pressed the button with his thumb. There was a flash of light, as expected, but she still refused to be sucked in. What the hell was wrong with this thing? Dan angrily tossed the thermos aside and multiplied himself into four. Dan and his three temporary clones surrounded the Queen. He grabbed her by the wrist and started to fly, yanking her up in the air. Then he felt something wrapping around his throat and start to strangle him. Choking, he let go of the Queen and yanked the thing away from his throat. He looked and saw that a giant vine had shot up from the ground right after him and grabbed him. Dan looked down and saw another giant vine had grabbed the Queen after he dropped her. The vine then deposited her onto one of the trees. She had somehow made the trees move and bend their branches according to her will until they made a bridge to the next tree. Using this method, she ran from tree to tree.

Dan and his clones chased after her. She saw she was being followed and lifted up her hand. A branch smacked one of the clones, causing him to disappear. She waved at another tree, causing it to fall on top of another clone. Then she aimed her hand at the ground. A vine shot up, grabbed at the last clone, and slammed him to the ground. Dan growled as he shot numerous ecto-blasts at her, but she ducked and caused the branches to take the attack for her. Dan growled even louder as she avoided each blast.

Then, he got an idea. Dan smirked as he became invisible and flew ahead of her. He landed on an unoccupied tree and waited. Not noticing she wasn't being pursued anymore, the Queen kept going until she came to his tree. As soon as she did, Dan made himself visible. She saw him and tried to stop herself from running, but she was going to fast. She smacked right into his chest and fell backwards, but the tree's branches quickly bent themselves under her to catch her fall. Sitting in their net-like entanglement, she looked up in alarm at him and gasped. Dan continued smirking and and slowly walked closer to her, not noticing her grab at the branch she was seated in.

Just as soon as he was about to grab her, Dan found himself about to lose his balance as the branch he standed on bent back down to the ground. A second later, it snapped back into place. Dan screamed as he was catapulted into the air and through the woods. He landed face first into the dirt with his bag landing right near his head. He lifted himself up, spitting grass and soil out of his mouth and dusted the dirt off. He looked around and noticed the sign. _Welcome to Amity Park._ Damn it! Not again!


	8. Chapter 8

Sam let out a sigh of relief as soon as she saw that the Phantom was gone. How did he even know she was here? Whatever. It didn't matter. At least he's gone. For now. She gently touched the tree she sat on, making it lower its branches until she was able to slide off with ease. She winced as her feet touched the ground. All of that adrenaline coursing through Sam's body during the chase had apparently blocked her ability to feel any pain. Now that she was safe, the adrenaline was starting to wear off, making her painfully aware of all the cuts she had gotten on her bare feet. Sam looked around and spotted a small boulder nearby. She limped over to it and sat down. She lifted up her feet so that she was able to see the bottom and inspected her injuries. They were covered in dirt and small cuts, some of them still bleeding. She used the bottom of her dress to wipe away the dirt and blood and decided it would probably be best if she sat here for a moment until all of the bleeding had stopped.

Sam put her feet down and looked around her. So far, she hadn't found any clues about her past. Everything was just like Papa had said. A completely deserted woods with no plant life growing whatsoever. To make things worse, there wasn't even a clue as to how to get out of here. She'd only been here for a few hours, and already she was practically losing her mind trying to find a way out. Just like her dreams. Only this time it was daylight and she was more annoyed than scared. The only thing about this place that had any redeeming qualities was that the trees, albeit dead trees, all listened to her just like the trees back home. Too bad they couldn't tell her who she once was or where she came from. There had to be some reason she was wandering around here twenty years ago.

Sam looked at her feet again and saw that the bleeding had stopped. She got up and was about to get back to her investigating when she realized something. She stood and stared at the boulder as if she had suddenly just noticed it. There was nothing really particularly interesting about it. In fact, it just looked like all the other rocks and boulders here. It was dark gray and small, though large enough for someone to sit. It wasn't round or oval-shaped, but more like a square, brick-like shape with a slope down on one side. Just a plain, ordinary rock. But for some reason, Sam couldn't help but think this was something weird about it. Something familiar. She touched the top of the boulder with her fingertips. She guided them back and forth across the rough and grainy surface where she had just sat. Then she slid them down the slope. Her fingers touched the ground and brushed against the dirt until finally, they touched something. Something with smooth and slick surface. Sam looked down curiously. That didn't feel like a pebble. She kneeled to where her fingers had touched. Something purple was half buried in the ground. She picked it up and wiped it down with her dress before placing it in her palm. It was a little plastic purple barrette in the shape of a butterfly with a smile on its head. Sam stared at it while slowly rubbing her thumb on its smooth wings. She had spent these past few hours looking for a clue with no success. Now she finally found it, but couldn't see how it helped her figure out who she was. And where does this boulder fit into all this?

Sam shook her head and stood up. She pocketed the barrette and continued on her way. An hour later, she felt herself grow weary. She touched the trunk of one of the trees and it lowered its branches in response. She sat on the branch as it straightened itself up again. She turned herself around until her back was leaning against the tree's trunk. She was just about to shut her eyes and take a little nap when she noticed something. There was an area just up ahead that looked like some sort of clearing. Sam stood and climbed up to the very top for a better view. She saw that not only was it just a clearing, but that there was actual green grass covering the ground instead of these sharp rocks. Even better, there appeared to be some sort of road next to it. If there was a road, there was a way out from this Nowheresville place and into an actual town. Sam had the tree carry her back down with its branch. As soon as she was down, she ran straight ahead, dodging and ducking branches along the way with a grin on her face. Finally, the trees were all behind her and she was free! Free! She was finally free! No more jagged pebbles or dry sticks waiting for her step on! No more depressing, dead trees about! No more dark grayness surrounding her! Sam was so overjoyed at finally being able to clearly see the sun, she dived down on the grass and started rolling around in it, relishing its softness and its particular scent that only grass seem to possess.

"Are-Are you okay, Miss?"

Sam snapped her head up. A redheaded woman in jeans and a black shirt stared down at her. Behind her was an odd little pink machine on wheels that Sam assumed was some sort of vehicle with its lights on and one of the doors wide open. She had never seen anything like this back home. The very few humans she's seen often talked about finding something called a "car" and using it to "get the hell out of here!" Was this contraption the "car" those humans spoke of?

"Miss?" the stranger asked again, giving her a very strange look.

"Um, yeah," Sam stood up as she felt her cheeks suddenly become hot, "Yeah, I'm fine. Perfectly fine. Just got a bit overexcited, that's all. I mean, you know, what with all that wandering around those damn woods for the past few hours-"

"The woods?" the woman interrupted as one of her brows shot up, "Those woods? What in the world were you doing in there?"

"Um," Sam looked down and started to anxiously rub her arm, "Oh, nothing. Nothing really important. Just- just nothing."

"Okaaaaay. Well, do you need help getting home? Do you live nearby? Or I could help you get to the doctor's, maybe? You look pretty banged up. "

Sam looked down and saw the woman was right. Her dress was now torn and covered in grass and dirt. Ugly, violet bruises covered her arms and legs. Her hair was a tangled mess with bits of twigs stuck in them.

"Uh, no," she replied, "No, I'm fine. I'll just walk to the closest town."

Sam started to walk away, resisting the urge to just run. She hadn't had that much interactions with humans, but she didn't need to in order to know she sucked at it. The farther she got away the better.

"The closest town?" the woman started following her, "The closest town is a long way from here."

"It's okay," Sam shrugged.

"No, wait, you don't understand," the woman grabbed Sam's shoulder and they both stopped, "It's two hours just to drive to Amity Park from here. I can't even imagine how long it would take to walk."

"Oh," Sam stopped and looked at the ground uncertain.

"Look, why don't I just take you home? Hmm? Where do you live?"

"Oh, I don't live here." Sam shook the woman's hand off her and started to back away, "My home's a long way off. Like, really far. Trust me, it would be too far to drive there."

"Well, how'd you get here, then?"

Sam stopped and stayed silent. She bit her lip and started looking around for an escape.

"Come on," the woman took Sam's hand and dragged her to the car, "I'll drive you back to Amity Park and have a doctor look at you."

"But-"

"No buts. I'm taking you to the doctor's."

Sam finally relented and climbed into the passenger seat.

"But didn't you just say the closest town was two hours away?"

"Yeah, well," the woman slid into the driver's seat and slammed the door while looking rather annoyed at herself, "As usual, I forgot a bunch of stuff I needed and didn't realize it until just a few minutes ago. So, I have to drive all the way back to Amity Park before turning around and driving all the way to Wisconsin, hopefully making it this time!"

The woman let out an agitated scream, forgetting all about her new passenger. She looked down and turned red when she saw Sam staring at her while looking nervously out the window.

"But nevermind all that," she quickly said while, "Just buckle up."

"Buckle up?" Sam asked, confused.

She watched with interest as the woman took the strap that hung next to her and slid it down across her waist and chest, making it look like she was wearing a sash. She reached for a black, box-like object hidden in the seat and took a metal T-shaped piece on the strap. She placed the piece inside of the box-like piece until it made a clicking sound. She pulled the strap tight and placed her hands on the wheel and looked at Sam. She found Sam looking at her strap clearly intrigued and poked at it.

"What's wrong?" the woman asked.

"Huh?" Sam blinked in surprise, "Um, nothing."

Sam looked to the side and saw a strap like the one on the stranger's side. She repeated what she had just seen and smiled when she heard the click of the box-like piece. She sat up and looked at the woman, still grinning. The woman just looked back in confusion before taking one of Sam's arms and positioning it so that it was over the strap instead of under it. She sat right back up and let out a long and heavy sigh.

"Okaaay then," she said slowly, "Let's go."


	9. Chapter 9

Jazz fought the urge to breathe a sigh of relief as she spotted her driveway. That had been a very long drive and she didn't mean the mileage. She managed to get her new passenger's name, Sam. But that was about it. She asked Sam questions about where Sam lived, her family, what the hell she was doing all by herself in the woods. All were answered with things Jazz highly suspected weren't true and immediately followed by Sam quickly changing the subject. Plus, Sam seemed to be incredibly intrigued with the steering wheel and the gear shift. Too intrigued to really focus on what Jazz was saying. So, Jazz thought she would break the ice by telling a little bit about herself. Perhaps that would get Sam to open up more. And at first, it seemed to work. Jazz told her she used to live with her mom and dad, and Sam replied that she lived with her Papa. Jazz told Sam about the high school and college she went to, and Sam said her Papa taught her at home. And then Jazz got to the part about the ghost hunting. That shut Sam right up and made her tense up a bit. In fact Jazz noticed that the more details she gave, the more nervous, and even a little bit angry, Sam seemed to look. Finally, Jazz finished it up by saying she was quitting and moving away. That seemed to lighten Sam's mood. She relaxed a bit and her face even had a little relieved smile on it. But as relieved as she looked, the damage had already been done. She stared out the window and stayed silent the rest of the way there, making the car ride long and incredibly awkward. Jazz suspected she had insulted Sam a bit, but couldn't figure out how. Oh, well. She'd try to get Sam talking a bit more at the doctor's office.

"Alright," Jazz said as she pulled in to her driveway, "You wait here. I'm going to go grab a few things and be right back out. It shouldn't take me more than five minutes."

She left the car with the keys still in the ignition and lifted up the "Welcome" mat in front of the door for the spare house key. Once inside, she headed straight down to the basement.

"Now," she wondered out loud, "Where did I leave Mom's notes?"

She looked around the bare room before resting her eyes on a group of boxes sitting up against the wall. Luckily, those hadn't been taped up yet, so it only took Jazz a few minutes to go through each one. However, they didn't contain what she was looking for.

"Where is it?" she asked, this time annoyed.

"Where's what?"

Jazz nearly jumped out of her skin. Sam had come up from behind her without a sound. As Jazz turned to face her, she saw Sam looking about the basement as if she was completely awestruck. For someone who was apparently uncomfortable around ghost hunting, she seemed to like the lab specifically designed for ghost hunting.

"Just some notes, that's all," Jazz answered, "I'll find them in a minute. Anyways, what are you doing here? You should be resting in the car."

"I'm fine," Sam replied, still studying her surroundings, "You know, I could help if you want."

"No," Jazz took Sam's, took her upstairs, and sat her in the kitchen chair, "I'm sure they're around here somewhere. Just sit here and wait for me to come back."

Jazz went back down and pinched the bridge of her nose. This Sam girl was a lot more of a handful than she looked. Getting anywhere with her was going to take a lot more time than Jazz had thought. Just getting her to sit in one spot was nearly impossible. And Jazz had a feeling Sam wasn't going to stay in the kitchen for long. Which means Jazz needed to hurry up. Now, where were those notes? She looked around for a moment before slapping herself in the forehead. Duh! She locked them in one of the drawers! She went to the drawer to her right, opened it, and saw Mom's old notebook right where Jazz had left it. She snatched the notebook and went back up to the kitchen. Just as Jazz had predicted, Sam didn't stay seated for long. Her chair was empty and so was the kitchen. Now where did she go?

"Sam? Sam! Hey, where'd you go?"

"Shh!"

Jazz peeked into the living room and saw Sam on the staircase to the second floor with a finger to her lips.

"I heard something," she explained, pointing up the stairs.

"Look," Jazz went up to the bottom step, "I'm sure it's nothing. Now, let's get you to the doctor's."

But Sam ran right back up the stairs. Jazz groaned as she followed her up. She found her in the hallway pointing up to the ceiling at the attic door.

"Up there," she whispered.

"It's probably just a mouse or something. Now let's-"

A crash from above interrupted them. Whatever that crash came from, it wasn't a mouse.

"Stay here," Jazz said, marching in front of Sam.

She reached for the cord attached to the door and pulled it, bringing down a set of wooden steps up to the attic. Jazz went up, noticing Sam following her out of the corner of her eye. So much for "stay here." Unlike the basement, the attic was crammed with boxes. Most of it was going to the dump in a few days. The ones she was keeping were just waiting for the moving van. Jazz noticed that a pile of boxes had fallen over and spewed their contents onto the floor. She checked behind them, but found nothing. She then went circling around the room, checking behind boxes as she went. Nothing. Shrugging, she went back to the fallen boxes and started tossing stuff inside.

"Probably nothing to worry about, Sam," she called over her shoulder, but heard no reply, "Sam?"

Jazz stood up and looked behind her. She found Sam staring out the window straight ahead looking puzzled.

Jazz joined her and looked out. Across the street was a house with its doors and windows all boarded up and its shingles falling off. The house looked like it had once been white, but years of sun and disrepair dulled the color out. Instead, it was a filthy gray. On the brown lawn was an old and falling apart "For Sale" sign. Jazz didn't see anything unusual out there. Just the same old sight she's seen since she could remember.

"Sam?"

Sam pointed out to the old house, "Who lives there?"

"What? That old place? Nobody's been around for years. Why?"

"Who owned it last?"

"I dunno," Jazz shrugged, "Mom said the last time it had any owners was twenty years ago. Then one day, they just moved all of a sudden. Sam is something wrong?"

Sam didn't answer. She just kept staring. After a minute, Jazz took Sam by the arm and started pulling her away.

"Come on. Why don't you-"

A box crashed down in front of them. Both girls stared at it. Jazz let go of Sam and motioned for her to stay behind. She slowly crept up to the box while looking at it suspiciously. Then it started to shake and out popped a short, round ghost in gray overalls.

"I am the Box Ghost," he shouted, "Ghost of all things cardboard and-"

He stopped and stared in surprise.

"Hey!" he shouted and pointed at Sam, "What are you doing here?"

"What?" Jazz looked back at her, "You two know each other?"

"I-" Sam stuttered as her cheeks turned red, "I-I may have caught him trying to steal my planter boxes a few times. Back at my the for- I mean, at my- my house."

"How come you're not back at your forest? Wait," the Box Ghost made an evil grin, "You're not at the forest! Which means..."

Still grinning madly, he made the boxes float in midair and hurled them towards her. Sam stepped aside, letting the boxes fly past her and right out the window. Unfortunately for Jazz, the window was closed. She winced as she heard the glass shatter as boxes crashed to the ground. Great. Now she had to replace the window before moving.

"Hey!" the Box Ghost shouted, "That's not fair!"

"Tell me about it," Jazz muttered, still thinking about the window.

"I'll get you!" he continued, "You're not the Queen of anything here!"

Another pile of boxes were thrown at Sam, but she had already dodged them. She picked up a frying pan that had been spilled out to the floor and hit him hard with it. With a scream, the Box Ghost was hurled into the pile Jazz had repacked, spilling everything back out. Growling, he lunged even more boxes at Sam.

"Seriously?" Sam asked as she stepped with the now dented pan, "Is that all you can do?"

"I know, right?" Jazz asked, right behind him.

The Box Ghost turned in surprise and looked at her in fear as she undid the Fenton Thermos she had from her belt. She smirked as she uncapped it and pressed the button.

"Say bye-bye!" she said, waving at him.

But instead of being sucked in, the force of the vacuum from the thermos pushed him away. He was pushed away from Jazz and knocked right into Sam, making her cry out and drop the frying pan. Jazz looked down in confusion and realized what happened. She pushed the eject button! Quickly, she let go, but it was already too late. Both Sam and the Box Ghost went flying across the attic and right out the window.

"Beware!" the Box Ghost shouted right before disappearing.

Jazz ran up to the window and looked down. Right next to the thrown boxes, the Box Ghost was sprawled face down flat onto the grass as Jazz expected. Right next to him, however, Sam had landed on a giant daisy that had grown apparently out of nowhere on the lawn. Jazz gasped as the daisy gently let Sam down onto her feet and disappeared. Sam ran off, leaving the Box Ghost behind. Jazz ran down to the first floor to catch up with her then stopped. Wait. What did the Box Ghost say? "You're not the Queen of anything here?" What did that mean? And where did that huge flower come from? She puzzled over it for a minute before realizing something. Wasn't Dan saying he was looking for a Queen? Something like the Queen of...Queen of...Something to do with plants.

"Oh my god!" Jazz shouted, slapping her forehead again, "How did I not see it? Sam's a ghost! Get back here, ghost!"

Jazz ran out the door and out onto the lawn. She was halfway out of her yard when she noticed something was amiss about her driveway. She looked back and screamed in alarm.

"Hey! Where's my car!"


	10. Chapter 10

Dan glared out the window of the Nasty Burger restaurant as he finished the last of his shake. He had turned back into human form just before deciding to stay in Amity Park for a bit. He had considered heading back out to the woods, but quickly dismissed the idea. Chances were the Queen would most likely be gone by the time he returned. Not to mention he needed to come up with a new plan to catch her. The thermoses were obviously not working. It was like she had this strange power that allowed her to resist them. In all of his years of hunting, he had never come across a ghost that could do that. Even Dan himself couldn't do it. He could break out of them, but not resist them. So, how could she? There was something weird about that girl.

Dan reached for the banged up backpack next to him. The bag had taken a huge hit from landing so hard after being launched so high up into the air, but the stuff inside were all still intact and functioning perfectly. He pulled out the thermoses and set them aside. He shoved his arm back in and felt around for anything else he could use. Each Fenton Ghost Gear that Jazz sold all contained the exact same gadgets, so he already knew exactly what was inside. Inclucing the Fenton Grappler and the Jack o' Nine Tails. He found them and pulled them out. He leaned back in his seat and stared at them, turning his gaze from one to the other. The grappler might be a handy weapon, but for how long? It would catch her, yes. Even humans could be caught in it. However, if the Queen could resist the thermos, then there really wasn't any reason for him to believe she couldn't resist the grappler's effect after a while. Just give her a few minutes and she'd be out of the net and running among the trees again. The nine tails, however, that could possibly do the trick. Not only did the device latch itself around its victims, it gave them an electric shock, making them temporarily powerless. As stupid as its design was, what with Jazz's father's face plastered right in the middle of it, it just might be powerful enough to take down the Queen long enough for Dan to capture her.

Dan stuffed the grappler and the thermoses back into the bag and attached the nine tails to his belt. He put on the backpack and left the restaurant. Now all he had to do was find the Queen. She wasn't in the woods anymore, he was pretty sure of that. But, wasn't she looking for something back there? Did she find it? Maybe she went back to the Ghost Zone. Though probably not back to her lair, not while being hunted. That would be too easy. So, where'd she go?

He passed by Jazz's house as he tried to figure out how to track her down. At first, he didn't pay any attention at the girl getting out of the little, pink car in the driveway. At least, not until he saw a flash of green on her. He looked back just in time to see her about to enter the house. Her back was towards him, but he was still able to recognize the dress, the bare feet, and the dark hair. The Queen! She was here!

She glanced back at him as he continued to stare. She arched up one of her eyebrows as her violet eyes looked at him, probably wondering who the hell was the creep staring at her like that. She disappeared into the house and shut the front door. Dan stood there for a minute before evilly grinning to himself. It was like Fate had heard his troubles and was delivering her Majesty to him on a silver platter. All he had to do was capture her once and for all! Dan looked up at the house and his smile disappeared. Only problem was the Queen was in a ghost hunter's house filled with ghost hunting gadgets. Now, normally this wouldn't be a problem at all for most ghost hunters. In fact, this would be a dream come true. However, most ghost hunters weren't half-ghost themselves like Dan was. Which meant the Queen, not to mention Jazz, could level up the playing field and use the gadgets against him. She already figured out how to use the thermos against him. It wouldn't take her long to figure out how to use the rest of the stuff. So how could he catch her without getting caught himself?

Dan turned his gaze from the house to the car still running in the driveway. If it was still running, the keys must still be in the ignition. Jazz was coming back. And he was pretty sure the Queen was with Jazz. His evil smile returned as he chaanged into his ghost form. He turned himself invisible and phased through the car and into the backseat. Now to wait. Shouldn't be too long. And then he could catch the Queen by surprise with the nine tails and drag her back with him. Of course, there was the possiblility that Jazz would attack him and try to save her new friend. But seeing as Jazz had a bit of a history with being a lousy ghost hunter, Dan wasn't too worried about her.

Something caught Dan's attention out the car window. He peeped out and saw something large and metallic with fire-like green hair fly right past the house. Skulker? Dan growled in annoyance as the other hunter flew out of sight. What the hell was he doing here? What poor sap was he after this time? Oh, whatever. He rolled his eyes and ducked back down. The Queen should be back any minute now. Suddenly, something phased right through the car door and pinned Dan down flat on his back.

"What the hell are you doing here, welp?" a voice growled down at him.

Dan looked up. Skulker was sitting right on top of his chest, glaring at him. A missile launcher gun coming out of a compartment on Skulker's left arm was aimed right at Dan's head. Dan raised up his hand.

"Get off!" he shouted as he shot an ecto-blast.

Skulker was knocked back and he banged his head against the window, smashing it entirely. Dan managed to sit himself up just in time to see Skulker lunge at him. He turned himself intangible and Skulker went right through him and into the door. Dan moved to the driver's seat and became tangible once more as Skulker started to sit up. He growled and aimed the missile launcher at Dan again.

"I said what are you doing here?" he repeated.

"Funny," Dan sneered, "I was wondering the same thing about you."

Skulker narrowed his eyes in suspicion. Finally, he retracted the launcher back into his arm's compartment.

"Just stay out of my way, welp," he warned, "You're lucky I'm too busy trying to hunt down the Queen."

"Wait, what?" Dan's eyes widened and he stared at Skulker, "The Queen?"

"Queen of the Forest. Supposedly, she has some sort of plant powers, whatever that means. I know she's around this town somewhere. But where?"

"The hell you want her for?"

Skulker's eyes narrowed back down at Dan, "Why?"

Suddenly, Skulker jerked his head up. He leaned in closer trying to get a glimpse of something out the windshield. Dan turned his head and looked out, too. He could see the very top window of what he guessed was the attic. A dark haired figure stood in front. He could see her amethyst-colored eyes looking out. The Queen! Dan glanced back at Skulker and saw him with the same evil grin Dan had just a moment ago. Another launcher shot out from Skulker's back as he prepared to take off. Dan grabbed the gear shift, put the car in reverse and stomped on the accelerator, making his unwanted passenger lose his balance and stumble back into the seat. Dan wasn't about to let anybody touch even a hair on the Queen! She was his prey!

"What the hell do you think you're doing!" Skulker shouted as he reached for the gear shift, "Gimme that!"

Dan quickly put the car into drive and sharply turned the steering wheel. The car's tires screeched on the asphalt as it made a sharp right turn. Again, Skulker toppled back into his seat, forcing the launcher back into its compartment. Growling, he grabbed Dan by the back of his head and yanked him back. Dan howled in pain and reached for Skulker's hands, but the other hunter smashed his face right into the steering wheel. He howled again and slumped down in the seat. He could feel himself changing back into a human as Skulker shoved him aside into the passenger seat. Dan clamped his eyes shut in concentration and forced himself back into ghost form. He turned to see Skulker in the driver's seat steering the car back towards the house. Dan shot an ecto-blast right in Skulker's eyes. He screamed and vigorously rubbed at his eyes as Dan grabbed the wheel. He made another sharp turn, stumbling Skulker on top of him. Their heads made a _BONK!_ sound as they knocked together. Again Dan felt himself go weak and stars began to dance in front of his eyes. He fought the transformation again as Skulker sat back up. He grabbed Dan's collar and tugged at the door handle. The passenger door open and he with one mighty shove, Skulker managed to get half of Dan's body hanging out the car. . With his head hanging upside down, Dan could see the road below them rapidly passing on by. The car was still moving! He needed to get Skulker out of here now! Dan raised up his leg and kneed Skulker in the gut. Skulker immediatley let go with a grunt of pain and keeled over. Dan then shoved him right into the dashboard as he sat back up. He grabbed at he back of Skulker's collar and was just about to shove him out the open door, when Skulker suddenly jolted right up and smashed Dan into the driver's side door. Skulker yanked at the steering wheel as Dan got up and also grabbed hold of it.

The two tugged the wheel, making the car swerve left and right all the while crashing over whatever happened to be in its way. People screamed and debris was thrown all about, but the two took no notice.

Finally, after what seemed like two hours instead of two minutes, Skulker glanced out the now shattered windshield. He did a double-take and quickly became alarmed. He turned intangible and phased out of the car. Dan looked to see what was the matter and gasped. The car was heading straight into a tree! Quickly, Dan followed Skulker's lead and phased out just as it crashed right into the tree and crumpled up like an accordian. Dan could no longer resist the transformation and he was changed back into a human just as he hit the ground. He moved his limp hair out of his face and looked up just in time to see the tree fall over. He winced as it crashed right on top of the car's roof, caving it in completely. He turned his head towards the sky. Skulker was flying away, probably back at the house.

Dan stood up and felt next to him for his gear. He looked down when he realized he couldn't find it. Then he looked back. The car! It must have slipped off during the struggle! Dammit! By now, the area was surrounded by police cars with their lights blazing and their sirens blaring. Since nobody seemed to be paying even the slightest attention to him, Dan assumed he in the clear, for the car at least. But what about the Queen! Skulker was heading straight for her and he didn't have his gear! Then Dan remembered the nine tails and reached for his belt. Good. Still there. At least he had something. Dan broke into a run right after Skulker while trying to think of a plan. He wasn't going to be able to use his powers for a while, which meant he would have to rely on the nine tails and his own wits. The Queen had already outsmarted him twice, both while he was in ghost form. So for him to take her on in human form AND keep the other hunter, who was fully ghost by the way, away from her: Well, to say that it would be difficult was an understatement.

As Dan continued to run, the Queen rushed right past him from the opposite direction. What the-? He stopped and turned around in time to see her disappear into the alley next to the house. The very same alley he himself was at just a few hours ago. A few seconds later, Jazz came running past shouting about and waving the thermos menacingly into the air.

"I'll get you, ghost! I'll get you!"

She ran past the alley, completely oblivious to the Queen crouching behind the garbage cans. Dan couldn't help but roll his eyes. Didn't Jazz say she quit? He saw the Queen peek her head out from behind one of the cans. Seeing that the coast was clear, she sprinted out of the alley and turned down the corner. Dan followed, making sure he stayed a few feet back than necessary. No need to make her put her guard up. Not yet. She continued sprinting down the street and right up to a boarded up old house. She stopped and gazed up at it for some time, tilting her head as if she were confused. He watched as she carefully walked up the front steps and placed a hand on the door. Her fingertips traced the floral pattern etched onto it as she stared longingly. Her face seemed so sad with every passing second.

"What is it?" Dan found himself wondering, "What's wrong, your Majesty?"


	11. Chapter 11

What is this place? Sam couldn't help herself asking that question over and over again as her fingers traced the leaves etched into the front door of the abandoned house. She could have sworn she knew this house, but why? Who owned it before? Did she know them? She seemed to know this floral design. A vague memory of herself as a small child began to play in Sam's mind. She was sitting here on the porch steps with her head drooped down. She could see the neighborhood children across the street, taking no heed of her. She watched forlornly as they played and laughed down the street.

Sam turned around and faced the street. Children of all ages squeeled and laughed as they went along with their games. She sat on the porch steps and watched. She watched the children kick a ball between each other. Or laugh as they raced each other on their bicycles. Or sip pretend cups of tea in princess costumes while gossiping about the Mrs. Bunny stealing one of the girl's giant rhinestone and heart-shaped sunglasses or Mr. Bear's honey problem. No matter what the children were playing, they were playing with someone else. Everyone had a playmate. Everyone had a friend. For reasons she couldn't understand, she became overwhelmed with a sudden feeling of lonliness as if she hadn't a friend in the world. Now that wasn't quite true as she had plenty of friends back home. True, they were all sentinent vegetation, but they were friends nonetheless. So, why did she feel so small and lost?

Tears welled up in Sam's eyes as the feeling of lonliness grew. She clamped her eyes shut and vigorously shook her head like she was trying to shake the tears away. What was she doing? She was getting too emotional for no reason at all, that's what! It's just a bunch of kids playing. Who cares? If Sam wanted to investigate this house, she'd better find a way inside soon. The Phantom could show up any minute now. Not to mention Jazz was patrolling up and down the streets looking for a runaway ghost. And since the Box Ghost was still unconscious in Jazz's front yard, Sam had a feeling Jazz saw her use her powers and came to the conclusion that she was a ghost, too. Which meant now Jazz was after her as well. Exactly what Sam needed right now. Two hunters after her.

Sam got up to her feet and started looking for an entrance. Before leaving to the side of the house, she turned her gaze back to the children. The lonliness came back and she felt a knot form in the pit of her stomach. Sam slapped herself hard on her cheek. Nope. She was not doing that again. Now was not the time for self pity. Still, she couldn't help but feel like she had been like this before. That it had been a constant daily feeling. She slapped herself again. She was being stupid. Everyone felt lonely at some point in their life.

Sam walked to the side of the house. Every crack she found was too small for her to crawl through and every door and window had been boarded up tight. Even worse, no matter how hard Sam tried to pry the boards away, they held on fast. Finally, when Sam got to the backyard, she found a board swinging loosely by a single nail, leaving its window completely uncovered. Problem was the window was on the second floor. She squinted her eyes and could see large cracks surrounding a huge, gaping hole right in the middle of the glass. Some kid most likely broke it with a ball. Well, at least Sam didn't have to worry about breaking it herself. But, how was she going to get up there? She frowned and looked at the dead grass. If she was able to command dead trees, then dead grass really shouldn't be a problem either. She bent down and touched the brittle lawn. Instantly, a giant light pink petunia shot up and bent its head down to Sam's level. She climbed onto one of its petals and sat as it righted itself up and grew up into the sky until it had reached the second-story window. It positioned itself so that its head was right where the hole was. Sam got on all fours and crawled up to the window. Using the hem of her dress, she covered her hands and pulled out several large, jagged pieces of glass from the bottom pane until she was able to go through without hurting herself. She crawled onto the window sill and stood back up. The flower took its head back and stood upright as it waited for Sam's return.

She looked around the dark and dreary room. It smelled of mold and mildew and soon enough, Sam could see large bits of it growing on the walls. Large cracks filled the ceiling and the floor beneath her had large gaping holes. The peeling paint on the walls were so stained and moldy, that it was impossible to tell what its original color was. She looked and saw a bowling ball wedged deep down into the wooden floor and left only its top half sticking out. Looks like Sam found the ball that broke the window. How somebody managed to throw a bowling ball hard enough to reach the second floor in the first place was something she'd never know.

She took her gaze off the ball and looked towards the doorway. The door had completely fallen off and was lying on the ground in the hallway. Something inside told her she needed to go down the hall. That something important was waiting for her. Sam cautiously made her way through and out the room. She guided herself down the pitch black hallway, passing by several rooms, each with their door closed. As much as Sam wanted to look inside each room, a feeling in her gut told her to keep going. Whatever she was looking for, it wasn't behind those doors, she felt quite sure of that. Sam kept walking until she reached a small room just to the left of the staircase.

Like the previous rooms she had passed, the door to this one was closed, or it was supposed to be. Only one hinge was all that attached the door to the to its place and it was barely hanging on. Sam was certain if she even touched the door, it would have fallen right off. Cautiously, she took the rusty brass knob in her hand and gently pulled. Sure enough, that was all it took for the hinge to detach itself from the doorframe and cause the door to fall to the floor. Sam winced as it fell with a large crash, sending dirt and dust straight into the air. It went to Sam's throat and sent her into a coughing fit. When the dust had finally settled and she was able to breathe again, Sam looked inside. A dark room with paint peeling off the walls and a moldy smell. Just like the other room and most likely all of the rooms in this house.

Sam walked into the room and surveyed it. Nothing. Everything was all bare and silent. She looked down and noticed a floorboard jutting out. Considering she was standing inside an unkempt abandoned house, floorboards sticking out from their proper places isn't at all unusual and really shouldn't draw so much attention. However, the longer Sam stared at it, the stronger the sense of familiarity. She knew that little board. Another vague memory came to her. She would run to this board and pull it away as if it were a lid. But why? Wait, if she used to go to this floorboard all the time, did that mean this was her house? Well, she wasn't going to find out just by standing there.

She stepped towards the board and kneeled down in front of it. She removed it and looked down in surprise at the hole that had been housing several little toys inside. Dried brown flower petals covered most of the them, so Sam brushed a few away and picked up a small and canary-colored plastic dinosaur. She looked at it and another memory ran through her head. She used to come here to this little makeshift cubby and play. But she would have to play very quietly. The toys she kept in here had to be a secret. She couldn't let anyone know about them. Why?

Sam stared at the dinosaur as if it had the answer. Then looked back down to see several dead leaves and flowers, five other plastic dinosaurs, four spider rings, and a squishy ball in the shape of an eyeball. Sam sighed. Well, this didn't help her very much. Sure, she got to see what her old toys looked like, assuming this was actually her old house. But how was that supposed to help her find out who she was?

She sighed and placed the dinosaur back. Then she noticed a red string sticking out from a deeper part of the little hideaway just to the side. She slid her hand under the floorboards and up to the end of the string. To her surprise, Sam's hand touched something rather oddly shaped. She took it out and saw that it was a small sack tied with a red string. She untied the string and looked inside the bag. It was filled with glass marbles of all sorts of sizes and colors. She reached inside, took a handful, and let them slip back down through her fingers. When she went in for a second handful, Sam noticed a slip of paper inside the sack. She opened it further and took out the paper. It was a photograph of a family of three: a father, a mother, and a little girl.

The father was a blonde in a blue and yellow sweater vest that Sam was convinced he borrowed from the eighties. The redheaded mother was in a Barbie doll pink dress along with white gloves, which Sam thought was rather odd. Who wears gloves if it's not winter? Both parents smiled, but it was rather obvious that the smiles were very strained. From the looks of their eyes, they were anything but happy. Sam turned her gaze towards the girl and made a small gasp. That little girl! That was her! She brought the picture up to her face and scrutinized the child. Same hair, same face, same eyes... Yep. Definitely her. Unlike the other two, Sam wasn't smiling, real or fake. Instead, she fiddled with a strand of her hair and stared straight ahead at the camera. She looked at her younger self's hair and noticed it had the exact same purple butterly barrette that she had in her pocket. She pulled it out and stared at it before staring back at the picture.

So, if she was the little girl, then those two- Those two were her parents! They had to be her parents! Her real parents! Sam smiled down at the picture. The smile was soon gone when she realized she had no idea how to find them. Nobody had lived here for years. Every trace of her parents, with the exception of the picture, were gone. She had no bill of sale to go by. No forwarding address. Hell, she didn't even have their names. Where'd they go? And for that matter... Sam looked down at the barrette in her palm. How did she end up in the middle of a dead, deserted woods?


	12. Chapter 12

Jazz watched the tow truck arrived for her totaled car. They had to wait until the tree was removed. Since the tree was still mostly in one piece, it would be a while before the car was going anywhere. The tow truck driver looked visibly annoyed at the long wait time and honked his horn multiple times to express his displeasure. The guy with the chainsaw gave him a dirty look before rolling his eyes and he got back to work. By now, the crowd of spectators had thinned out and most of the officers left the scene. The few that remained were wrapping up their last interviews with the witnesses. Jazz turned back to the officer interviewing her.

"So you don't you have any idea who did this to my car?" she demanded.

"Now, calm down, Miss Fenton," the officer replied, "We're doing the best we can."

"Calm down? I'm supposed to calm down? I'm moving in a week and I've got a friend in Wisconsin expecting me today! I need that car! And you're telling me I'm supposed to calm down!"

"I understand your frustration, but there's little we can do right now. Once we get the tree removed, we'll be able to go and collect any fingerprints that might be on the steering wheel or the door handle or wherever. But right now, there's really nothing more we can do."

Jazz growled and pinched the bridge of her nose. She took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. Feeling a little calmer, she continued talking with the officer.

"Alright. Fine. Just- Just fine. Do you what you need to do. I'll just take the RV to Wisconsin. We done here now?"

He nodded and Jazz stomped back to her RV, or, as her mom called it, the Fenton Family Ghost Assault Vehicle. Jazz remembered spending her childhood riding around in the RV as Mom would do the usual mom stuff like dropping Jazz off at school. And then a ghost would appear and all hell would break loose as Mom immediately forgot what she was doing and stomped onto the accelerator to go after it with Jazz still in the backseat clinging on to dear life. Or on days where she would be waiting for Mom to pick her up and a ghost would go speeding past the school with the RV right behind it, shooting out green goop from a blaster gun that had emerged from the roof all over the road, the school, and Jazz of course. Nowadays, the RV was in retirement, only coming out every once in a blue moon whenever Jazz wasn't able to drive her car. And from the looks of the wreck, she wasn't going to be able to drive her car in a long time.

As she drove home, Jazz couldn't help but think about the new ghost in town, Sam. Jazz still couldn't believe she didn't realize sooner Sam was a ghost. It certainly explained her odd behaviour. And her attempted insistance on being left alone. Jazz should have listened. She shook her head, feeling extremely guilty. She was supposed to be catching ghosts, not bringing them here. Now she has to get Sam out of Amity Park before her move. As if she didn't have enough on her plate right now. Well, Sam was just going to have to wait. She spent enough time in Amity Park. She needed to deliver Mom's notes to Wisconsin now. Besides, maybe Mom's old friend might be able to help Jazz figure out how to defeat this- What was that name Dan called Sam? The Queen of-? Queen of-? Queen of the flowers? The jungle?

Jazz turned to her street and spotted something large and pink that definitely wasn't there when she left half an hour ago. As she came closer to her house, she was finally able to see that the pink thing was coming from the abandoned house's backyard. She pulled over and went to investigate. When she got to the backyard, she gasped as she looked up. There was a twenty foot tall petunia growing from a dead lawn. The petunia had grown so tall, it had reached the house's second floor window! Wait a minute. She thought back to when Sam was staring out the attic window and asked about this house. There was something about this house that caught Sam's interests. Question was what was so interesting about it and why did some plant ghost want it? Nevermind. Who knows what sort of evil things were going through a ghost's mind.

Jazz peeked from behind the house into her own front yard and arched up one of her eyebrows. When that Flower Queen made her getaway, she created a giant daisy to catch her fall. So if she could grow giant flowers... Jazz looked back at the petunia. She was here! Sam was here! But Jazz didn't have time to go looking for her. Mom's notes needed to get to Wisconsin. She glared at the flower for a minute until a smirk came across her lips. Of course, she guessed this hunt wouldn't take too long. Five minutes at the most. Yeah, she supposed she could hold off the trip another five minutes.

Jazz began to search for a way inside, but every door and window were firmly boarded shut. So, how did Sam get in here? Then she remembered what ghosts could do and facepalmed herself. Duh! She phased through here! But Jazz couldn't do that. So, what now? She went back to the flower and looked up. That's when she noticed something. The window the flower was next to had a giant hole through it! There was a way in! Now all she had to do was figure out how to get up there. Jazz scratched her head in thought for a moment. Then she looked at the petunia. An idea came to her. An idea she didn't like, but she didn't see any other way. Jazz sighed. As much as she hated to do this, climbing up that evil flower was her only shot. Jazz took hold of the stem and began to climb. Every few feet or so, she would rest for a few seconds while panting. At one point, she looked back down and she suddenly felt dizzy as she saw how much farther from the earth she was. Geez, this must be how Jack felt when he climbed the beanstalk.

Finally, she reached the top. After a minute of rest on the petal closest to the window, Jazz crawled through and fell face first on the other side. Groaning, She got up, ignoring the aching in her face, arms, and front. It was dark inside with a stale, musty odor in the air. Almost everything in here was broken. The door, the windows, the floor, and lord knows what else. Not that any of that explained where Sam was.

Jazz took the Fenton Thermos from her belt and held it out in front of her as she left the room and walked down the hall. Now, where could that ghost be? Then she came across a closed door and smirked.

"Aha!" she shouted and kicked open the door with a loud _BANG!_ "Got ya!"

Her smirk disappeared and she blinked in surprise at the empty room. Huh. No ghost. So, where was-?

 _creak._ Jazz froze and stood still. She heard something. A second later, she heard it again. _creak._ She looked down the hallway just in time to see a pair of purple eyes widen in alarm and quickly disappear into one of the rooms. Jazz smirked again. Got ya. She tip-toed towards the room and flattened herself against the wall. Sam poked her head out again and looked out. Seeing nothing, she let out a sigh of relief. Jazz had to bite her lip to keep herself from giggling out loud at Sam's naivety. She waited until Sam was just about to walk out.

"Aha!" Jazz shouted.

She jumped out from her spot and right in front of the surprised Queen. Sam yelped and jumped back as Jazz aimed the thermos right at Sam's face.

"Wait!" Sam cried out, putting her hands out in front of her, "You don't understand! I'm-"

"Oh, I understand everything, ghost! I know all about your evil plans!"

"Evil plans? What are you talking about?"

"Don't play innocent with me, Miss Queen of- Queen of- Wait, hold on. I got it, I got it. Queen of the- Vegetables?"

"No," Sam said, lowering her hands and no longer in fear for her life.

"Queen of the- The plants?"

"No," she replied, crossing her arms.

"Greens?"

"Nope."

"Grass?"

"That's not even close."

"Growing things?"

"Oh for god's-" Sam facepalmed herself, "The Forest! Queen of the Forest!"

"Right! Right! Forest! I knew that!" Jazz said, turning red, "Queen of the Forest! I was getting to that! Anyways, where was I? Oh, right! Don't play innocent with me, Miss Queen of the Forest! I know all about your plans to grow giant evil plants to try to take over the world!"

"Wait," Sam stared dumbfounded at her, "What?"

"And I'm not the only one! Another ghost hunter Dan knows about it, too!" Jazz stopped and lowered down her thermos as she realized she really didn't have a clue why Dan was after Sam, "Or at least, I think he does. I mean, why else would he be hunting you?"

"Wait, Dan? Who the hell is Dan? Why is he hunting me? Oh, that's just great! I got three hunters after me now?"

"Say goodbye, you- you- evil- evil ghost- plant thing!"

"Oh, yeah. Real scary."

"Oh, shut up! I can't think under pressure!"

Jazz aimed the thermos and after checking to be sure she had the correct button this time, she pressed it. She turned her head to avoid the blinding flash and looked back. What the-? What? Sam was still there? Jazz turned the thermos around and drew it close to her eyes. She closed an eye and place the other one against the opening of the thermos, looking down into it. Was the Fenton Thermos working?

"You done yet?" Sam asked, her hands to her hips, "You know what, let me just save you from wasting your time. I can't be sucked into that thing. LIke I tried to tell you, I'm not a ghost. The thermos isn't going to work on me."

"Please," Jazz scoffed, bringing the thermos down, "I may be a lousy ghost hunter, but I'm not stupid. I know exactly what you are! Your evilness won't work on me, you- evil- you evil- Queen of- evil forests!"

"You really need to think of better insults if you want to appear intimidating."

"Yeah," she sighed, "I do, don't I?"

"Look, I'm not gonna sit here all day. So," Sam pushed Jazz out of her way and walked down the hallway, "See ya."

"Hey!" Jazz shouted, aiming the thermos at Sam's back, "You can't do that!"

"Watch me."

Jazz growled angrily and pressed the button again. She clamped her eyes shut and waited for the blinding light to die down. When she was able to open her eyes again, all she saw was an empty hallway. She smiled triumphantly and did a fist pump into the air. She got her! She got Sam! Now all she had to do was get rid of the giant flower. She could do that when she got downstairs. Feeling quite proud of herself, she went towards the staircase and suddenly stopped. She frowned as she looked at the large gaping hole in front of her. No stairs. They must have rotted away years ago. Oh well. Looks like she was going to be climbing again. Jazz smiled again as she went back the way she came and entered the room she was first in. She looked out the window. The smug smile she had instantly disappeared when she saw Sam calmly sitting on a petal looking right back at her. Jazz stared at her and then back at the thermos.

"How-? How did you-?"

"Like I just said two minutes ago, you're wasting your time. I can't be sucked into that thing. I'm not a ghost."

"Oh, yeah right," Jazz replied, sarcastically, "Do you really expect me to believe you?"

"Believe what you want," Sam shrugged, "But either way, you're not going to be able to capture me in there. Now, do you want a ride down or what?"

"A ride down? A ride down where? To the ghost hell that spawns your evilness?"

"Suit yourself."

The flower shrank down and Sam soon disappeared from sight. Jazz looked down and watched as the petunia shrunk closer down to the ground. It gently dropped Sam onto the ground and disappeared into the dead lawn. Sam looked up and waved at Jazz before walking away. Jazz glared at the plant Queen. As much as she wanted to go after her, she couldn't. She needed to leave for Wisconsin. Now. No, actually an hour ago, long before her car was taken for a joyride. What was supposed to be a five minute ghost hunt turned into fifteen minutes of pure confusion on Jazz's part. And that wasn't including the time it took to climb up that damned flower in the first place. Wait. The flower. Jazz blinked as a realization came to her. The flower was gone! She was stuck up here!

"Damn it!" she shouted, throwing the thermos to the floor.

Jazz glared at the brown grass where the petunia was before looking around for another way out. She spied the rusty rain gutter already falling off the house. The remaining bolts holding it in place didn't look very stable, but she didn't really have any other option. She climbed out the window and carefully crawled onto the roof. She swallowed nervously as she looked at all the large patches of holes all in front of her. She really didn't have much room for any mistakes here. With another nervous swallow, she slowly made her way through the maze of holes. With each movment she made, loose shingles would slip and fall off, causing Jazz to nearly lose her balance multiple times. Still, she kept going until she finally came to the gutter. She slowly stood up, trying not to look down. She wrapped her arms around the gutter and then her legs. Feeling a little relieved now that she was no longer on the slip n' slide roof of death, Jazz started to climb down.

She wasn't even a quarter of the way there when she heard a metallic clattering. She looked at the bolts and gasped. Her weight was pulling the bolts off, the very ones that were barely keeping this gutter in place. She felt the gutter jerk now that it was starting to break free and loosen itself from the side of the house. The clattering grew louder and the gutter began to jerk more and more. Uh-oh. Jazz held on tight and screamed as the gutter broke loose altogether and fell with a _THUD!_ She groaned as pain shot through her back. Well, at least she was back on the ground. She moaned as she stood up. She rubbed the small of her back, trying to massage the pain away. Now to get going. Jazz limped over to her parking spot. She stared at it in disbelief for a minute.

"What the hell!" she shouted in outrage, "Where's the RV!"


	13. Chapter 13

Still in human form, Dan carefully followed the Queen as she circled the house, making sure to keep enough distance between her and him so she wouldn't get suspicious. He watched her grab board after board of each window she passed and attempted to pry them off. She finally went off to the backyard. As he followed her, he took the nine tails from his belt and prepared to shoot. He entered the yard only to be taken aback at the twenty foot tall pink flower growing out of a lawn that's been dead for years. He looked up at the flower's head just in time to see the Queen crawl off one of its petals and right through an upstairs window. Shit. This was just great. Now he lost track of her. He was still to weak to change back into a ghost and fly in or phase through. And judging from her former attempts at breaking in here, Dan was just going to go ahead and assume there wasn't another way inside. He should have used the nine tails while she was still outside. Now he was stuck down here and forced to wait until she came back out. And there was nothing he could do about it.

Dan suddenly turned his head and looked up at the sky. He had seen something approaching, but he couldn't tell what. He went over to the side of the house for a closer look. He could see Jazz leaving her RV behind and walk up to the house. Fortunately, she didn't appear to see Dan and went right behind the other side of the house. But Jazz wasn't what had caught Dan's attention.

He looked up at the sky once more and wen he saw exactly what it was, he growled. Skulker. Dan glared up at him as he fiddled with something on his jetpack. Why Skulker had a jetpack when he was a ghost and could just fly by himself, nobody in the Ghost Zone could ever figure out. Nobody even bothered questioning him about it either since they didn't want him deciding they would make excellent prey and start hunting them down.

Dan watched as Skulker started to fly faster towards the house. Apparently, the bright pink color of that flower had attracted his attention. Who the hell had sent him after the Queen, anyway? Dan didn't know, but what he know was that once Skulker landed on the flower, it wouldn't take him long to figure out she was here. And he had much more efficient weapons on hand compared to Dan's measly little nine tails whip. If Dan wanted to keep the Queen as his catch, he needed to think of a plan fast.

Dan looked at the RV and noticed that, once again, Jazz had left it running. He remembered her telling him once that it was supposed to be some sort of weapons vehicle that had a few hidden gadgets built into the framework and circuitry of the RV. This was promptly followed by her leaning against it and accidentally pressing some sort of button that brought out an ecto-gun hidden in a compartment on the roof of the and shoot some sort of green ecto-goop all over the two of them. Thank god that girl was quitting soon. And as for his current problem... Dan smirked at the RV. He just might have found the solution.

He ran up to it and looked around to make sure Jazz wasn't coming back yet before entering inside. Once he was in the driver's seat, he looked down at the dashboard and stared at all the buttons and monitors scattered across it. Wait, which button did what? And what the hell were the monitors supposed to be monitoring? It would have been nice if these things were labeled. At least he'd have some sort of clue. Just how was he supposed to work this thing? He glanced outside and saw Skulker getting closer to the house. His missile launcher was out again on his back and he had a malicious grin on his face. Crap! He already figured it out! Dan needed to act now! He slapped his palm down on the nearest button and heard a female automated voice.

"Ecto-ray Beam engaged."

He heard something whir on the RV's roof and watched a green ray beam coming from the RV's rooftop shoot straight at Skulker. It blasted the surprised hunter right out of the sky and he came crashing down into the pavement below. Dan smiled triumphantly. Bull's eye. This thing still worked after all.

Skulker got up and glared at the RV. He shot a missile at Dan's direction. Dan's smile was soon gone and he immediately put the gear shift into drive as he stomped on the accelerator. He peeled out of the way right when the missile struck the spot he had just been, missing him by about two inches. The force from the small explosion behind him, however, was enough to knock the RV off its wheels. Dan cried out as the RV flipped upside-down. Smiling smugly to himself, Skulker took off again. Dan cursed to himself.

"Fenton Family Ghost Assault Vehicle in incorrect position. Now engaging Spring Mode."

Spring Mode? What was-? Suddenly, he screamed as the RV bounced itself high into the air with a _BOING!_ as if it were on two giant springs. Dan clenched his seat tightly and hung on for dear life as the RV rapidly flipped multiple times in the air. His stomach was churning and his face started to turn green. Dan was too busy trying to keep his lunch down, he didn't even notice the RV had bumped into Skulker and got itself stuck onto one of his jetpack's rocket wings. Nor did he realize Skulker was shouting outside as he was forced to flip round and round with the RV. Finally, the RV landed right-side up again with a loud _THUD!,_ pinning Skulker underneath.

"Fenton Family Ghost Assault Vehicle position corrected. Now disengaging Spring Mode."

Oh, thank god. Dan let go of his seat and leaned forward to rest his head on the steering wheel. He slowly took in a few deep breaths, concentrating hard on each inhale and exhale. His nausea died down and his stomach started acting normal again. Good. The last thing he needed was to get sick. It would probably make him even weaker and keep him from changing back into a ghost even longer.

Suddenly, Dan widened his eyes in alarm. Did he just hear something clattering? Right underneath the RV? Suddenly, the RV bumped up as if it had run over something. And just as it bumped, there was a metallic _BANG!_ followed by a shout. That didn't sound good. Dan looked up to see Skulker glaring at him viciously through the windshield with another missile aimed right at him. Yeah, that definitely wasn't good.

Again Dan slammed on the accelerator, knocking the startled ghost onto the hood. The missile accidentally went off and blew up a fire hydrant. Water gushed out like a geyser and rained down on everything nearby. The rain didn't seem to bother Skulker though. He phased his arms through the windshield and wrung his hands around Dan's neck. He shook Dan and started to strangle him for interrupting his hunt right when he had finally tracked the Queen down. Dan gagged and choked while he let go of the steering wheel and tried to pry Skulker's fingers off.

The RV swerved uncontrollably on the road with Dan's foot still flat on top the accelerator until it was spinning around in circles. Exactly how a vehicle on tank treads could possibly spin around in circles was anybody's guess, but what was really extraordinary was that Skulker was still able to stay on the hood and continue throttling Dan during all of this. As Dan's vision started turning black, he let go of the accelerator and stomped on the brake. The RV suddenly quit spinning and stopped with a jolt. The force was enough to send Skulker forward off the hood and into a nearby building. Dan rubbed his throat as he coughed and panted until he was able to breathe properly again.

Skulker stood back up and that's when Dan noticed one of his jetpack's wings was torn clean off. And since Skulker didn't like using his own powers to fly, that meant he was stuck. Dan grinned maliciously at him. Let's see what all these other buttons could do.

"Ecto-Slime Foamer engaged."

There was another whirring on the roof and then a shot of bright green goop shot out and splatted right into Skulker. The shot knocked him completely off his feet. When he got back up, he was covered from head to toe in slime. He made a disgusted sound and tried to shake it off, but most of it stuck onto him fast. Dan pressed another button.

"Ghost Hammer engaged."

Dan heard another whir and watched as a giant wooden mallet slammed right down onto Skulker. As the mallet retracted back to the roof, Dan couldn't help but laugh at Skulker. This was fun. What other buttons were there?

"Ghost Buzzsaw engaged."

He heard a buzzsaw on top of the roof and watched it extend forward towards Skulker. Skulker had just gotten back up, still seeing stars around his head when he heard somehing from behind. He turned around shouted as the buzzsaw came closer. He quickly ducked out of the way and broke out into a run. Dan pressed the buzzsaw button again, retracting it back into the roof. Awww. Looked like Skulker didn't want to play. Too bad Dan did. Besides, he had to make sure Skulker stayed away from the Queen and not ruin Dan's chance on getting that half million he was promised.

"Ecto-Torpedo Missile engaged."

The RV jolted back as a missile launched off from the roof. Skulker looked behind him and when he saw the missile, he ran even faster. The missile barely missed him and exploded on the road. When the smoke had cleared, Dan could see small fires around the spot with the asphalt extremely charred. He swerved around it and continued the chase.

"Ghost Electric Shocker engaged."

A large jolt of electricity shot out from the rooftop and struck Skulker. He froze up and shouted as thousands of volts of electricity coursed through him, making the different weapons hidden in his mechanical body smoke and shoot out jolts of electricity of their own. Dan winced at the sight. Good thing ghosts could withstand more damage than humans. When the large shock finally stopped, Skulker stood there all charred and covered in burn marks. Tiny electric shocks coming from his own body still went off as his system started to shut down. Occasionally, the smaller shocks would make him freeze up for a second before stopping. This continued as he stood and moaned in pain while looking extremely disoriented. Dan smirked. One more hit ought to do it.

"Fenton Emergency Ham engaged."

A roast ham shot right into Skulker's face with a _splat!_ and knocked him over to the ground. Dan waited a minute for him to get up. Nope. Skulker laid still. Looked like he was going to be out for a while. It wouldn't last too long, though. Better get that Queen before he wakes up. Dan sighed as he pressed down on the accelerator and sped up.

"The things I do for you, your Majesty," he muttered.

He moved the RV forward, making sure to run over Skulker's unconscious body as a final insult. Now, where did the Queen go? He soon found his answer only two seconds later when he spotted her in front of a large brick building. Dan stopped the RV and watched her tilting her head in warily up at the sign. _Amity Library._ Still looking a bit uncertain, the Queen finally opened the door to the library and walked inside. Dan looked a bit puzzled as he watched her. Something wasn't right about her. She was acting way too weird. True, she had a hunter after her and was made fully aware of it, but somehow Dan didn't think that explained anything. Her behaviour, odd as it was, definitely had a pattern. First her searching up and down a dead and deserted woods. Then her sudden interest in an empty and completely neglected house. Now this. She was searching for something here in the human world. Something important.

"What are you looking for, your Majesty?"


	14. Chapter 14

Sam held out the family picture in front of her as she walked down the rows of books all neatly lined up on the shelves. She heaved out an exasperated sigh. This was taking much longer than she thought. When she had decided that the library must have some clue, she honestly didn't think it would take more than a few minutes to find it. Exactly what she was looking for, she couldn't say, but she was sure she would know when she saw it. It was like she actually half-expected this clue to make itself obvious to her and say, "Aha! Here I am!" After all, her parents did used to live in this town. Surely there was someone who knew them and could point her in the right direction. And there just had to be some sort of record of them here like an award ceremony, a wedding announcement, or maybe even Sam's own birth announcement.

Perhaps it was the thrill of finding her family photo that caused Sam to be so optimistic. Or maybe it was getting to see for the first time in twenty years what her real family looked like. Whatever the case, her optimism was fading fast when she wasn't able to find that so-called obvious clue. Of course, it would help if she knew where she was going. Yes, she did realize she was in a library and that the books were all shelved in some sort of order. And yes, there probably was a sign somewhere that explained to patrons exactly what that order was. But Sam was so intensely focused on her task, she most likely passed it. Not to mention she had gotten herself so completely lost in this labyrinth of books, she wasn't even able to find the exit. Or even the entrance for that matter.

After leaving yet another row, Sam was about to enter the next when she spotted a bright light further down past all the shelves. She followed it until she came across a wide, open area filled with tables and chairs and people sitting down at them. Each person was intently focused on some sort of box-like contraption with pictures or text displayed upon them. So that's what that light was! A soft clicking made Sam look down upon the desks. Everyone had their hand around some small, object that was flat on the bottom and curved on the top. Then she heard what sounded like a soft chattering all around the room. She watched as each person's fingers quickly ran across some sort of plastic board filled with buttons with letters upon them. As the fingers pressed upon the buttons, a chattering-like tapping could be heard. What were these things? Sam then noticed there was a sign right above her head. She stepped back and looked at it. _Computer Lab._ Computer? What was a computer?

"Miss?"

She turned around. Staring sternly down at her was a librarian with his arms crossed in front of him. The name tag pinned to his shirt read "Lancer."

"Do you need help?" he continued, moving his gaze down to her bare feet, "Perhaps you were looking for the shoe store? I happen to notice you tracking dirt all over the place. That I have to clean up."

She looked behind him. He wasn't lying. Footprints were scattered all across the floor and around the small area in between the rows. She could actually track where she had left one row and entered the other. Her cheeks became red.

"Sorry," she slumped her head down and muttered, sheepishly, "You're not going to kick me out, are you?"

"I must admit I am incredibly tempted," he replied, still glaring, "You know what? No. I'm not tempted. I AM kicking you out."

"But you can't!" she said a little too loudly, making everyone turn their heads, "I haven't found what I'm looking for, yet! Please! Please let me stay! Please! I promise, as soon as I've found it, I'll leave! Please! Please! Please!"

"Shh!" Lancer put a finger up to his lips and looked around at everybody staring at them, "Quiet! You're in a library!"

"Please!"

"Alright, fine! Go look for- Whatever it is. But then you need to leave!"

"Oh, thank you! Thank you! Th-"

"I said- You know what, nevermind. Now, what are you looking for?"

"You'll help?"

"The sooner you find whatever it is you need, the sooner you'll leave. Now what do you want?"

"I'm looking for them," she handed the photo over to Lancer, "That is, I'm looking for where they moved to."

"Hmm," Lancer raised up one of his eyebrows, "I remember them. And the kid..."

He looked at Sam and stared at her for a minute looking completely confused. Sam waited until he turned his attention back to the picture.

"What about the kid?" she asked, sincerely curious since she had no recollection of her past personality here in Amity Park, "What was she like? I mean, was she always so happy and laughing? Was she mischevious? Loud? Quiet?"

"Scared," he replied, talking more to himself than to her, "She always looked like she was scared of something."

Sam was taken aback. Scared? Why would she be scared? She didn't remember being scared all the time. Well, at least, not with Papa. She felt a pang of sadness as she remembered Papa back home and all alone. Normally around this time, she and Papa would be feeding the children their lunch. He must be feeling all alone without her. And the children. How did the children feel when Papa came home without her?

"Miss?"

"Huh?" Sam came back to reality and noticed Lancer had walked a few feet behind her into the computer lab.

"Are you coming or what?"

"Right. Sorry."

Lancer sat down in front of one of the contraptions in the lab while muttering something about not being paid enough. Sam followed and stood behind him. On the box-like part of the contraption, a new image popped up with a small, rectangular box smack dab in the middle with the word "Google" right above. She heard his fingers tapping across the plastic board and watched as words filled the small rectangular box.

"Jeremy and Pamela Manson," she read out loud.

"That would be their names, yes," he glared at her again, "Please tell me that's who you were looking for?"

"Um, yeah! They're the ones!"

"Thank god," he muttered.

Sam smiled to herself completely elated. Jeremy and Pamela Manson! Jeremy and Pamela Manson! Her parents names were Jeremy and Pamela Manson! Which meant she had a last name too! Sam Manson! Her real name was Sam Manson!

An image filled with text showed up and after Lancer moved around the smaller, curvy object Sam still couldn't identify, another image appeared. He took a pencil and pad out of his pocket and started writing. Then he ripped out the paper from the pad and shoved it and the photograph in her arms.

"There. They're at this address in Wisconsin. Now leave!"

He jerked his thumb down past all the shelves. Sam smiled as she read the address on the paper. She hugged it tight to her chest and started walking. Wisconsin! They moved to Wisconsin! She was one step closer! Now all she had to do was go to Wisconsin at the address! How surprised they're going to be to see her! They would be so overjoyed! What parent wouldn't after their long lost daughter finally turned up at their doorstep after twenty years. Of course, first she had to figure out how to get to Wisconsin. Nevermind that. She'd find a way. What really mattered was she was going to Wisconsin and be reunited with her family again! She read the address on the paper several times before putting it and the picture in her pocket.

Sam found her way out of the library and immediately bumped right into somebody's chest. She fell back on the sidewalk and looked up. A tall man with long, black hair and bright, blue eyes looked back down at her with an amused smile.

"Sorry," she said.

He offered his hand down to her. She took his hand and he pulled her up. Sam thanked him and started to walk off, but he wasn't letting go of her. She turned around and gave him a questioning look.

"Do you need something?"

He started to reach for something, but then stopped and jerked his head up to look at the road behind her. His eyes widened and his face turned pale.

"What? What's wrong?"

Sam looked behind her in time to see a large machine standing there. The machine looked a bit like a car, only larger. Much larger.

"The RV!" the man exclaimed.

She was just about to ask him what an RV was when she noticed it had a large gun sitting on top of it. She was yanked back and they dodged down to the ground right as an ecto-blast shot out from the gun directly at the spot where she had just been standing. She landed right on his chest just before another ecto-blast shot out.

"Look out!" he cried.

Sam quickly rolled over to the side alongside with him, barely missing the blast. A whirring sound made her look up. The gun on top of the RV had been replaced by a buzzsaw and was now heading their way. She quickly got up to her feet and started running with the man right behind her. They heard screaming and turned their heads. The RV had gone off the road and was speeding down the sidewalk after them. Passerbys were all screaming and shouting as they ran, dropping their purses and packages as they fled. The RV continued speeding along the way, paying no attention to the various items it ran over. The buzzsaw had been replaced by a larger gun than the one before. With a _BANG!,_ green slime came shooting out of it and landed right next to Sam.

"What is that thing!" she shouted behind her.

"Some sort of weapons vehicle!" the man answered, catching up, "It's supposed to be used for hunting ghosts!"

"Ghosts? But I'm not-!"

Another blast of slime interrupted her. A splatch of it landed on her arm, encouraging the two to run faster. As they ran past a mailbox, Sam started to feel a bit of relief. Surely the mailbox would stop it for a bit. The RV hit the mailbox and mail rained down on them, however, it continued after them without even stopping.

"How do you stop it!" Sam asked, ducking another blast.

"I don't- OOF!"

He fell forward as another blast hit him. Sam stopped. He was down on the ground with slime covering his back and gluing him to the concrete. He struggled to get up as the RV sped towards them. Sam frantically looked around and spotted a baby tree in a large flower pot next to grabbed the flower pot, kneeled down, and grabbed his wrist. The baby tree suddenly shot up right up. The RV screeched to a halt and its driver stuck his head out and watched in shock as a branch slid underneath the man and peeled him off the sidewalk. He cried out in surprise as he and Sam rode the tree as it rapidly grew up into the sky until their branch was level with the top of the buildings.

"Come on!" Sam shouted, jumping off the branch onto the roof, "We can avoid that thing up here!"

He followed and looked back down as the tree shrunk back to its original size. He then looked at the driver and squinted his eyes.

"Hey, wait a minute," he muttered, leaning in for a closer look, "Skulker! He stole my RV!"

"Your RV?" Sam said, "That thing's yours?"

He ignored her and pounded his fist on the edge of the rooftop. He growled angrily and frantically looked around on the ground before turning to look behind him. He looked at Sam and then back down.

"Hey, you can control every plant, right?"

"Yeah," she answered, warily, "What are you getting at?"

"I've got an idea. You need to fly us off of here. I'll tell you where to go."

"I can't fly!"

"What do you mean you can't fly? You're a ghost, right?"

"Not exact-"

Another blast of slime headed towards them. They dodged out of the way and it hit a nearby billboard sign.

"Nevermind! Come on!"

He grabbed her wrist and led her across the rooftop onto the next and the next. Skulker noticed them on the move and continued the hunt. He shot out another blast of slime. They ducked and the slime blast flew past them. This continued until finally they reached the last rooftop and up to the fire escape. He waved at her to go down the escape and followed until they reached the ground. He then ran ahead of her and she quickly followed until they finally reached a large area of grass and trees.

"This is the park," he explained, "You can use your powers here. I'll get him out of the RV and you do your plant thing or whatever it is to get rid of him."

They heard tires screeching behind them. They turned to see the RV getting closer. The man ran up to the RV and leaped on top of the hood.

"Hey! Skulker!"

Sam watched as he reached over to the door. Skulker saw him and shoved open the door himself, smacking it right into him. The man cried out in pain and fell off the hood. Skulker stepped out of the RV and grabbed him by the collar, yanking him up.

"I warned you, welp," he sneered, "And now I'm-"

"Hey!" Sam jumped up and down while waving her arms, "Hey! Skulker!"

"Hmm? Aha!" Skulker grinned viciously and dropped the man to the ground, "The Queen! I've been looking all over for you!"

He had? What? Another hunter? What the hell did she do wrong?

"Hey, I have a question!" she continued, "What's that around your waist?"

"What? What are you talking about? I don't-"

He looked down to his waist and stared in alarm. A low hanging branch from a nearby tree had started wrapping itself around him. As soon as it was noticed, it flung Skulker up into the air. He shouted as he found himself flying through the sky and out of sight. Sam walked up to the man as he got back up.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Yeah," he coughed, "Thanks. Actually, no. Thanks really isn't enough. How about I do you a favor?"

"Like what?"

"You kind of look a little lost. Maybe, I could help you out," he leaned against the RV and pointed inside, "Maybe, I could give you a ride?"

"Oh, no," Sam smiled and backed away, "No, no. Where I'm going is pretty far."

"Oh, come on. How far could it be?"

She watched as he reached for something on his belt.

"Well, actually it's pretty- YEOWCH!"

Sam was shoved down onto her stomach. She tried to get up, but something was standing on her preventing her from doing so. She cried out in pain as her arm was yanked behind her.

"Hey!" she shouted, "Let me go!"

"Hey!" the man shouted, "Skulker! Get off!"

He reached over to Skulker and yanked him off her. Sam felt her arm being pulled as Skulker fell forward. The man reached for Sam, but Skulker punched him in the face, knocking him down next to her. Skulker held up her arm and took out a pair of glowing, green handcuffs.

"And now, Queen," he sneered, fastening one of the cuffs around her wrist, "You're coming with me!"

As he was about to fasten the other cuff around the other wrist, the man grabbed the cuff and slapped it onto his wrist.

"Hey!" Skulker shouted, "You can't do that!"

"I just did," he smirked and pulled out some sort of device from his belt, "And, I'm also going to do this!"

He aimed the device at Skulker and out came several electrical whips with hinge-like handles on the end. The handles grabbed hold of Skulker and jolts of electricity coursed around his body. He screamed as thousands of volts of electricity shocked him, yet again, and took no notice of the two behind him. The man quickly stood up and Sam found herself being pulled behind him. They ran towards the RV and when they got to the open door, he pushed her inside. He yanked the device back, retracting the whips, and slammed the door.

"Hang on!" he shouted, unintentionally yanking her towards him as he grabbed the wheel, "It's going to be a bumpy ride!"

Sam heard the tires screech again and soon they were speeding off.


	15. Chapter 15

Jazz tapped her foot impatiently as she waited on the rooftop of her house. She frowned at her watch and noticed two hours had passed since she was promised over the phone somebody would be sent to pick her up. What was taking so long? She should have just left Sam back at the abandoned house and dealt with her later. Hell, she should have just left her back at the woods and avoided creating the problem in the first place! If she had just ignored the strange bruised up, crazy girl rolling around on the grass and just kept on driving, she would be in Wisconsin by now! Damn her and her compassionate heart!

Jazz heard a pulsing, chopping sound above her and looked at the sky. She put her hand over her eyes against the sun's glare and watched as some large, black dot came closer. As soon as she recognized what it was, she smiled. The helicopter! Finally! It was here! She jumped up and down and waved her hand wildly in the air. The pilot noticed and steered towards the rooftop. There really wasn't much room for the helicopter to land on the rooftop since most it was covered by a UFO look-a-like that was larger than the house itself. So since it wasn't able to land on the roof, the pilot steered the copter slightly above it and lowered the ladder. Jazz grabbed her bag next to her and started climbing up and into the helicopter. The co-pilot took her hand and helped her up. She nodded her thanks to the co-pilot and was directed to her seat. Once she was buckled in, the pilot steered the chopper up and away.

Jazz looked out the window and watched the buildings pass, thinking to herself about how they started to look like miniature models. A miniature model of Amity Park. It actually sounded kind of cute. Tiny smiling buildings with itsy-bitsy smiling cars and eensy-weensy smiling people. Just a happy little town. Well, except for that ghost Queen. It wouldn't take too long before she unleashed her evil plan, whatever it was, and made everybody in the little town absolutely miserable. Which meant Jazz needed to get her out of the human world fast. Easier said than done, of course. If the stupid thermos did its job, Sam would be out of here by now. But, no. No. Instead it let her get away and refused to work against her. So now Jazz has to go fumbling around with the other gadgets trying to figure out which one would do the job. Something she really did not have time for what with everything else she had to do. Hopefully, she would be able to get some more information about Sam in Wisconsin. That might help narrow the gadget list down a bit.

Amity Park was now behind them and Jazz turned her gaze to the clouds. She smiled and admired how fluffy and soft they looked. She could easily imagine herself drifting off to Dreamland on one of those. Her eyelids drooped and she watched the clouds pass on by. A few minutes later, she was slumped over in her seat snoring away much to the amusement of the pilot and co-pilot in front of her. An hour later, the co-pilot turned to the passenger and called out her name.

"Miss Fenton! Miss Fenton! We're preparing to land, Miss Fenton!"

Jazz rubbed her eyes gently with her fingers before opening them. , She yawned and stretched up her arms.

"Hmm?" she groggily asked, bringing them back down, "What did you say?"

"I said we're preparing to land, Miss Fenton!"

Now she was wide awake. Jazz jolted straight up in her seat and looked out the window. She saw the stone castle-like structure with its gold shingled towers and its green flags and crests coming into view. She grinned. The Masters' Mansion! At last! And it only took forgetting Mom's notes, befriending an evil ghost, and getting her vehicles stolen.

When they landed, Jazz grabbed her bag and practically ran out of the helicopter and into the mansion. She looked around the room ignoring the Green Bay Packers' football paraphernalia proudly displayed on the walls.

"Vlad?" she called out, "Vlad!"

No answer. He must be in the lab. Jazz went through the rooms and walked down to the lab entrance. The lab was indeed occupied and when she saw this, she grinned again and waved her arm at the tall man with his white hair tied in a ponytail. He didn't notice his guest, however, for he was carefully examining something on his computer screen and had his back turned towards her.

"Vlad!"

At the sound of his name he turned around.

"Jasmine!" he greeted and waved for her to come in, "You're finally here. Good. There weren't any problems on the way here? Besides the other ones, I mean."

"Nope," Kneeling, Jazz set her bag down and started ruffling through it, "None at all."

"Good," he turned back to the computer, "Terribly sorry to hear about your car. And now you're saying the RV's gone, too?"

"Yeah," she grumbled, taking out a notebook, "They haven't found it, yet."

"Well, that's a shame. I remember Maddie was rather proud of it. I do hope it turns up soon. Speaking of your mother, do you have-"

"Her notes?" she replied, waving the notebook.

"Excellent!" he took it and flipped through the pages, "Exactly what I need."

"Why?" Jazz tried to look at the screen behind him, "What are you working on?"

"Oh, nothing interesting. Nearly boring me to tears, really," and with a swift move of the mouse, Vlad quickly exited out of the program much to Jazz's disappointment, "Just some test results I've been expecting."

"Test results? For what?"

"Just some silly little project of mine. But what am I doing? You're not interested in all that."

Jazz cried out in surprise as she found herself being yanked up from the floor and led out of the lab. When they reached the staircase to the second floor, Vlad let go and pointed up.

"Now then," he said, "Why don't you stay here for the night. I've already got a room ready for you. It's actually the same one that Maddie would often stay in when she came over for a visit."

"Well, that's certainly a nice offer, but I need to get back and catch-"

"No, buts, Jasmine. I insist. In fact, why don't you stay here for the rest of the week? I'll send someone down to get the last of those boxes out of the house."

"Thanks, but I really need to- Actually, hold on. I have something I need to ask you."

"Yes?"

"See, there's this new ghost," and here is where her face grew hot and she continued sheepishly,"Which, I may or may not have accidentally brought to Amity Park-"

At this, Vlad couldn't help but arch one of his eyebrows at her and breathed out a barely audible exasperated sigh. Her face grew redder, but she continued on with what she was saying.

"Anyway, when I tried to catch her with my thermos, it didn't work!"

"You mean she broke out?" Vlad asked, surprised, "Not very common, but I must confess it has happened a few times."

"I mean she was never sucked in at all!"

"What!" Vlad stared at her in shock, "That's impossible! Every ghost gets sucked in! That's how Maddie designed it! Are you sure you weren't using it incorrectly? Or maybe your thermos is broken?"

"It worked with the Box Ghost today. Well, sort of. I mean technically I didn't-" she stopped and shook her head, "Never mind. That's not important. What's important is that I catch this ghost before I move. And I was thinking that maybe you or something in Mom's notes might know a little bit about her and could tell me how to send her back into the Ghost Zone."

"Hmm," he opened up the notebook again, "Yes, Maddie might have something. Very intelligent woman, she was. Intelligent and brave. There wasn't a single ghost she had met that she couldn't beat. So, what ghost are you having trouble with?"

"Her name is Sam," Jazz replied as she walked next to him to look at the notebook, "She's some sort of Queen in the Ghost Zone."

"Sam? Queen?" he paused and stared into space completely dumbfounded for a brief moment before clearing his throat and turning his attention back to Jazz, "There's no Queen of the Ghost Zone. The Ghost Zone hasn't had a ruler ever since Pariah Dark, and that was centuries ago."

"No, I didn't say OF the Ghost Zone. I said IN the Ghost Zone. She doesn't rule ghosts. Just plants."

"Plants?" he said slowly, turning his head to stare at her, "Did you say 'plants?'"

"Yep. Plants. She can grow giant, evil plants that I have no idea how to defeat. You have any ideas?"

He stroked his chin in thought,"You said she's back at Amity Park?"

"Yeah."

"And thermoses don't work on her?"

"Yeah."

"And she's a Queen with plant powers?"

"Yeah!" Jazz exclaimed, starting to get excited, "You know her?"

"Nope," he said, slamming the notebook shut, "Can't say I do. And I'm not sure that your mother's heard of her, either."

Jazz let out a disappointed groan. So much for that idea.

"But," Vlad continued, "I'll tell you what, Jasmine. You go upstairs and make yourself comfortable while I go see if I can't find-"

A telephone ringing down in the lab interrupted him. Vlad excused himself and went to answer it. When he left, Jazz sat at the bottom step and sighed in disappointment. Well, that didn't go well. Vlad didn't know anything about Sam and apparently, neither did Mom. Which meant nobody knew how to defeat her. Great. Now she was back to square one. Now her only hope was to if Vlad might be able to find something. But given how Jazz's luck was going so far today, she highly doubted he would.

Feeling a headache coming, Jazz decided it would be a good idea to get settled down in the room waiting for her. It wasn't until she had reached the top step that she realized she had left her things back at the lab. She turned right around and headed back. She entered the lab just in time to see Vlad slam down the phone onto the desk where the computer was sitting. He stood over the it with a furious expression on his face and was obviously trying to compose himself. After a few minutes when Jazz thought his mood was a little better, she finally spoke up.

"Is something wrong?"

A startled Vlad looked up at her in surprise before shaking his head and giving her a reassuring smile, "Nothing. Just more disappointing results from that test I mentioned."

"It's not going well?"

"No," he said, glaring at the phone, "Not at all well."

"Oh, well, sorry to hear that. Anyway, I forgot my bag down here."

She took her bag and headed back up. As she left, she could hear Vlad calling after.

"Now, you go get some rest, Jasmine, and I'll find as much as I can about this Queen Sam business. I'm sure she'll be caught sooner or later."

"Really?," Jazz asked, hopefully and looked back at him, "You think so?"

"Think so?" he opened up the program on his computer again and curved his lips into a small, wicked grin, "I know so."


	16. Chapter 16

As soon as Dan grabbed hold of the steering wheel, he sped off as fast as possible away from Skulker. While he highly doubted Skulker would be able to follow the RV for a while, he didn't want to take any chances. Especially now with the Queen finally in his grasp. Last thing Dan needed was for Skulker to regain consciousness too soon and snatch away his half million dollar prize. The Queen uttered no complaint and seemed quite eager as Dan was to get as far away as possible. She didn't even seem too bothered about sitting next to the Phantom. Then again, she didn't know she was sitting next to the Phantom. She'd know soon enough. Which was why he needed to find a way to keep her here with him. The handcuffs were working for now, but Dan knew they wouldn't last long. A ghost powerful enough to resist the thermos would have no trouble escaping from a measly pair of handcuffs. She probably wasn't doing it right now because she was still in a bit of shock over what's happening. But just give her five more minutes...

Dan kept driving while he tried to think of his next move. He glanced down at the Queen to ensure she hadn't broken free yet. She was looking at him curiously, carefully examining his face. He started to feel uneasy and quickly looked away. Still, he could feel her gaze on him scrutinizing every minute detail. Finally, after a minute had passed, she asked him a question.

"Funny," she said, slowly, "You look really familiar. Do I know you?"

"Um,"

Dan started to blush as he tried to think of an answer. He really ought to have known this question was coming. The Queen no doubt recognized him. After all, he had been chasing her all day. It was only because he was in human form that she couldn't exactly pinpoint who he was. She might not be able to connect that he and the Phantom were one, but she woul soon. It didn't exactly take a rocket scientiest to realize that Dan and the Phantom were one and the same. Dan just hoped it didn't come too soon.

"Did you hear me?" the Queen asked, "I said do I know you?"

"No," Dan answered, a little too quickly, "Nope. Never seen you before in my life."

"Really?" she looked at him suspiciously, "Are you sure? Because I swear I've seen you from somewhere before."

"You must be mistaken," he quickly replied while shaking his head, "I've never seen you before in my life, your Majesty."

"Your Majesety?"

Shit! He gave it away!

"If you've never met me before," the Queen continued, glaring at him, "Then how did you know to call me your Majesty? Hmm? 'Cause that's not something a lot of humans here know."

Quick! Think up of something! Anything! Whatever lie sounded convincing!

"Alright," Dan heaved out a dramatic sigh, "You got me. Yes, I know you. I was sent to protect you."

"What?" stared at him, "Protect me? What do you mean 'protect me?' from who?"

"Well, from the Phantom and Skulker, of course. I knew in advance they were going to try and kidnap you. And that's why I'm here to protect you from them."

"Okaaay," the Queen replied, arching up one of her eyebrows, "Well, that's awfully nice of you Mr..."

"Dan. Call me Dan."

"Dan then. Hey, wait a minute! You're a hunter, too!"

"Huh? What?" Dan tensed up.

"Don't lie to me!" she jumped out of her seat and tried to get further away from him, but still being handcuffed to his wrist, that wasn't possible, "You're a hunter, too! Jazz told me somebody named Dan was after me, too!"

Dan silently cursed Jazz as he quickly tried to think of a way to calm the Queen down. He really didn't want a fight right now, not without his powers. But he just might end up having to prepare for one.

"No, no. Jazz misunderstood. I wasn't after you. I was looking for you. I was sent here to protect you, remember?"

"I don't believe you! Sent by whom?"

"Your father!" he exclaimed without thinking.

"Papa?" she stopped struggling.

"Yep," Dan relaxed in his seat, "Your papa called me to his lair and told me about the Phantom attacking you last night. He also warned me Skulker was heading your way and asked me to keep you safe from them.

"Oh," the Queen started to relax and sat back down in her seat, "Well, that's awfully nice of you, Dan, But I think Papa might be exaggerating the danger bit. He can sometimes be a bit overprotective. Trust me, I can handle myself."

"I don't know, your Majesty. I think it's too much of a risk to have you wandering around all by yourself out here in the human world."

"You can stop with the whole 'your Majesty' thing, okay? Just call me Sam. And I'm telling you, I'll be fine."

"Listen, Sam right? Listen Sam, I'm doing this for your own good. Besides, not a lot of young ghosts like yourself who are new here are able to make it. Not for long anyway."

"Make it? What do you mean 'make it?'"

"The human world's not a very friendly place for ghosts what with all the ghost hunters running around here."

"Please," Sam snorted, "I'm not scared of a few ghost hunters. I got away from Jazz."

"Jazz is nothing. You should have been here when her mom, one of the most renown ghost experts in the human world, was still alive. That woman was absolutely relentless. Even more so than the Guys in White, if that's possible."

"The Guys in White? Nevermind. Look, I'm telling you, I can handle myself. Besides, I can't stay here with you. I need to get to Wisconsin!"

Dan looked a bit confused. Wisconsin? Wasn't that where he was supposed to drop off the Queen to collect his money? He looked down at the dashboard where he had placed the address from the anonymous note. Sure enough, the address was in Wisconsin alright. Maybe it was just a coincidence. It's not like Wisconsin only had one city in the entire state. She had to be going somewhere else.

"Really?" he said, "Well, what a coincidence. As it so happens, I have a safehouse which happens to be in Wisconsin. It's packed with the best ghost gear complete with a ghost shield to keep both the Phantom and Skulker out, and most importantly away from you."

"Ghost shield? Nevermind, it doesn't matter. I'm not going with you, alright? I don't have time to be kept cooped up in a safehouse. I need to go find my family."

"Your family?" Dan looked at her puzzled, "I thought your father was in the Ghost Zone. He's in Wisconsin now?"

"No. Well, technically, yes, but- I mean- Oh, forget it. You wouldn't understand. Just get me out of these cuffs so I can go!"

"You seem to be forgetting, your Majesty, that I don't have the key."

"Stop calling me your Majesty! It sounds weird. Call me Sam, got it?"

"Right. Sam. That still doesn't change the fact that I don't have the key."

She growled and drummed the fingers from her free hand impatiently on her knee, "Well, there has to be some way out of these. I need to find my parents!"

"I'm assuming you're not referring to your papa?"

"Well, technically no. I'm not. I'm referring to my real parents. And I can't find them if I'm stuck here in this- this- what is this thing called again?"

"An RV."

"Right. This RV. What is an RV, anyway?"

The question didn't really surprise Dan. RVs, and most other cars for that matter, were practically unheard of in the Ghost Zone. After all, they could fly would they need a car for? And, depnding on the ghost, their powers were usually enough to provide almost everything a ghost wanted right at their fingertips. As a result, human inventions were all just useless little human toys like the microwave or the computer and almost all ghosts usually left them alone. Well, with the exception of one particularly annoying so-called "Master of Technology" ghost. But then again, almost everybody was one hundred percent certain that guy was certifiably insane.

"An RV," Dan explained, "Is like a giant vehicle that you can camp in for a few days. This particular RV, though, is more designed for ghost hunting than for camping, but it'll do."

"You sound like I'm going with you. How many times do I have to explain I'm not? I'm leaving and that's that!"

Damn, she was stubborn. He had hoped he wouldn't have to use the nine tails on her, but he just might have to if she tried escaping. But maybe he could still convince her to stay. Obviously doing the "for your own protection" route wasn't working, even with the "your papa wants you safe," guilt trip thrown in. Maybe if he knew what city she was going to, he might be able pretend to be going there and just keep going to where he needed to turn her in. Of course, this was all assuming she was bad at directions, and he had a feeling she wasn't. These were her parents for god's sake. What person doesn't know how to get to their own parents' house? Still, this may be his only shot.

"Out of curiosity," Dan said, "Where exactly are you going? Madison? MIlwaukee? Green Bay?"

"Hold on," the Queen dug into her pocket, "It's written down here somewhere."

Dan glanced over her shoulder as she took out a slip of paper and read the address. When he did, his eyes grew wide with shock. He had to read it several times to be sure he wasn't seeing things. What the hell? Not only was this the same city where he's supposed to drop her off, but the street address was also just two blocks away! What the hell was going on here?

"Is something wrong?" she asked, looking up at his startled face.

"Wow," Dan replied, "Now that really is a coincidence."

"What?"

"That's the same city as the safe house."

"Really?"

Looks like this wasn't going to be as hard as he thought.

"I'll tell you what, your Majesty" he smirked at her.

"Sam!"

"Right, right. Sam. Tell you what, Sam. I'll make a deal with you. Since I'm going stopping by that city anyway, I'll take you to see your parents if you promise that after your little visit, you come with me to the safehouse."

"You promise you'll take me to see them, first?"

No. Actually, they weren't going anywhere near her street, but she didn't need to know that. Not now.

"I promise," he said, "Now will you go to the safehouse with me?"

She smiled and nodded her head. He smiled smugly to himself and looked down at his hands on the steering wheel. Whoops. Looks like he had his fingers crossed. Oh, well. It was then that he realized something. Wait, if he was going to ensure she didn't try to bolt on out of here, then he needed to stay in human form until they got to Wisconsin. Shit. He hated being powerless. But even so, he couldn't afford to let the Queen know he was the Phantom. Just one glimpse and she'd be out of there faster than you could say, "Boo."

"So," she said, lifting up both hers and his cuffed wrists, "Any ideas about getting out of this thing?"

Dan frowned. No he didn't. Normally, he'd use an ecto-gun or something from his Fenton Ghost Gear in situations like this, but that was all destroyed in the pink car. So, no chance. Then Dan suddenly got an idea. He smirked again and looked down at his passenger.

"I just might."


	17. Chapter 17

"So, let me get this straight," Sam said, warily, "We're going to use the RV's laser gun on the top of the roof to break the cuffs off? What if it hits us?"

"Relax," Dan replied, "It won't hit us. We'll just hold up our hands and duck our heads out of the way."

"Duck our heads out of the way? Wow. I feel so much better now."

"Well, your Majesty-"

"Sam."

"Right. If you have any better ideas, I'm all ears."

She was silent for a minute before asking, "How are we going to get up on the roof anyway? I can't fly, remember? The only powers I have is control over plants."

"Really?" he looked over her questioningly, "No invisibility or intangibility?"

"Nope."

"Huh," he said as he looked back towards the road, "I was wondering why you hadn't phased out of them already. Anyway, soon as I find a clear space to park, I'll get the laser going."

Sam looked out at the road. They had already left Amity Park and were heading down the opposite way she came with Jazz. They hadn't come across the woods yet and probably wouldn't for a while. She turned her eyes from the road and looked down in front of her. Buttons of all sorts completely covered the entire area. She figured that some of these buttons had to control some of the weapons on the RV's rooftop. That would have to explain how Skulker made them appear without stepping outside. But that would only cover a few of the buttons. What did all the others do? And for that matter, how was Dan going to be able to control the laser if he was standing on the roof? Maybe he had some other button on the roof or something.

Sam then turned her attention towards him. Funny. He looked familiar somehow. Had they meet before? No, they couldn't have. She didn't know anybody named Dan. Maybe she had seen his picture or something. No, that didn't feel right. She studied him carefully, taking in every detail of his face. She had to have met him somewhere. There was just no other explanation. Problem was she couldn't quite tell where. Or who he was. Sure, Sam knew what his name is and that Papa hired him, but what else? Dan never did go into specifics about himself. Well, except to say that they'd never met before. That had to be a complete lie. There's more than what he's saying here. As Sam continued to look at him, she couldn't help but give a litte smile. Liar or not, he is kind of cute.

Dan noticed her staring at him and turned towards her. As soon as he did, Sam's entire face turned red.

"What?" Dan asked, "What are you staring at me for?"

"Uh-" she stammered, "Um- Nothing. Just- Just looking."

He gave her a funny look before turning back, "I think there's a clearing just a few miles ahead. Soon as we get there I'll- HEY!"

Sam heard what sounded like a blast firing from some sort of weapon. She was then lurched forward as the RV came to a sudden stop. She fell out of her seat and smacked her head at the vehicle's control panel in front of her.

"Whoops," Dan said as she got back to her seat, "Probably should have told you to wear your seatbelt."

She shot him an angry look before looking at the road. The blasting sound apparently did come from a weapon judging from the charred and smoking aspalt in front of them. A _CLANG!_ suddenly rang out from on top of them. Dan and Sam looked up as an arm phased through the roof and reached for Sam.

"Where is she!" Skulker demanded from the rooftop, "Give the Queen to me now!"

"Skulker!" Dan shouted as he pushed her to the floor, "Stay down, your Majesty!"

"It's Sam!"

She hid underneath the control panel of the RV as it sped forward. She heard Skulker shout and fall backwards back into the road. Then another blast rang out. It hit the RV and sent it lurching, flipping it onto its back.

"Oh, no, not again," Dan groaned.

Sam was about to ask what the plan was now, but a female voice suddenly spoke up.

"Fenton Family Ghost Assault Vehicle in incorrect position. Now engaging Spring Mode."

"Spring Mode?" Sam asked, "What the- AIIIEEEEE!"

With a _BOING!_ the RV went flying through the air. Sam quickly latched on to the bottom of her seat as she and Dan both screamed. Her stomach started doing somersaults and she struggled to keep everything inside when the RV finally landed rightside-up. The voice spoke again.

"Fenton Family Ghost Assault Vehicle position corrected. Now disengaging Spring Mode."

Sam slumped back down to the floor, but there wasn't much time for to relax.

"Take this, welp!"

She heard Skulker fire off another blast. The RV raced forward again as Dan sharply turned the wheel. He manuevered the RV around each attack Skulker fired off, managing to successfully dodge each one. Finally, the attacks stopped. Sam was starting to feel a bit better until she saw Dan look behind him and cry out in alarm. She peeked out and gasped. Skulker had phased through the roof and was looking straight at her.

"Aha!" he smirked at her, "There you are!"

Dan took out the whip-like weapon from his belt and aimed it at the hunter, but Skulker shot some sort of slime from a gun sticking out on his arm. Dan shouted and dropped his weapon as slime covered his eyes. He started to rub vigorously at his eyes, completely letting go of the wheel. The RV swerved out of control, but Skulker didn't seem to notice. The slime gun went back into his arm and he headed for Sam. She ducked back to the floor and pressed herself as far as back as she could go against the corner.

"And just where do you think you're going, Queen?"

He grabbed her by the back of her dress and yanked her out of her hiding spot.

"Hey!" she cried out, kicking and flailing her free arm about, "Let me go!"

As Skulker pulled her out, he yanked Dan out of his seat by the wrist in the process. Skulker frowned at him as he fell to the floor. While still holding her the back of her dress, Skulker grabbed Sam's cuffed wrist and stomped one foot hard on Dan's cuffed arm. With his foot pressed against Dan's arm, Skulker pulled Sam's wrist as hard as he could until the chain linking the two cuffs together finally broke. He tossed Sam over his shoulder and two rocket launchers from his jetpack emerged. He faced the ceiling and prepared to take off before suddenly turning back.

"Whoops," he said with a grin, "I almost forgot."

He looked at Dan back on the floor and kicked him hard in the head. He smirked when Dan cried out in pain before phasing through the ceiling.

"Dan!" Sam screamed, trying to break free from Skulker's grip.

She looked back as they flew away from the RV, struggling to break free.

"Let me go!" she demanded, "You put me down right now! Right now or I'll-!"

"Or you'll do what?" Skulker sneered.

"Or I'll- I'll- I'll blast you with my- Um. Ecto-beam!"

"Really?" he asked, skeptically.

"Really! And I'll shoot you with it if you don't put me down right this second!"

"You don't have an ecto-beam, do you?"

"No," she sighed, "But I'm still going to put you in a world of hurt if you don't let me go right now!"

"Oh, really, now?" he smirked, "There's nothing but asphalt for miles without a tree in sight. You're not so mighty without your little plant friends to help you, now are you?"

Suddenly, a green laser beam shot after them. Skulker cried out as it passed by his other shoulder, narrowly missing him by inches. Sam looked down at the road and smiled at the RV chasing after them. The RV shot out another beam. Skulker dodged the shot and scowled. He held out his free arm as a missile launcher came out from its compartment. He shot a missile at the RV, but it dodged the attack. Skulker gained speed as he continued to shoot behind him. The two kept on attacking each other until finally, the RV suddenly stopped and went into reverse until Sam could no longer see it. Huh? What the hell was Dan doing? He wasn't just leaving her, was he?

"Finally," Skulker muttered, as the missile launcher went back into his arm, "Welp finally came to his senses and realized who the superior hun- AUGH!"

Green goop fired from out of nowhere and splat onto both Skulker and Sam, covering them completely in slime. The force of the shot sent Skulker backwards, making him let go of her. Both screamed and flailed about as they fell out of the sky. Just as she was about to hit the ground, Sam found herself landing on her stomach in this giant net about twelve feet in the air. She looked around in confsion until she looked down and saw the front of the RV right beneath her. Dan! He came back! She then looked up and watched as Skulker came crashing down onto the road. Moaning, he struggled to get up, but the slime stuck him fast to the ground. She heard a whirring sound behind her as the net started to move down to the passenger side door. The door popped open and the net turned itself on its side until Sam could crawl inside. When she was seated, she closed the door and the net disappeared back into the roof.

"Nice of you to drop by, your Majesty," Dan smirked.

"Sam."

"Right, right."

With Skulker still struggling, the RV raced off, leaving him behind. As soon as he was gone, Sam relaxed back into her seat.

"Thanks."

"It's what I'm here for."

She rubbed her sore wrist, ignoring the broken cuff still attached, "Well, at least we're not handcuffed to each other anymore. Now how do I get this slime off me?"

"There's a shower in the back if you want to use it. Although, you probably might want to wait until I park, which probably won't be a while. That is, if you want us to get to Wisconsin fast."

"Oh, nevermind. I'll wait," she looked out the window for a moment before asking herself, "What does he want with me anyway?"

"I assume he wants to hunt you."

"Very funny," Sam glared at Dan, "I mean why? And why is Phantom hunting me, too? I swear, one day, I'm minding my own business and living a quiet life with Papa, and the next day, I'm being chased after three hunters for no apparent reason! Well, actually, I don't think Jazz really wants to hunt me and just wants me gone, but still! Three hunters! What did I do to deserve three hunters chasing after me!"

She looked up at Dan and saw him suddenly turn pale as he looked out.

"Um," he said, starting to put the RV in reverse, "You might want to make that four."

"What!"

Sam looked out and saw a woman in a red and black armored suit flying through the air on a black and red device with two large prongs sticking straight out. She could see the woman grinning maliciously at her through the reflective glass shield on her helmet as she held out her arm stuck in front of her with a small gun attached to her wrist. The weapon shot out a purple beam as Dan turned the RV around. The beam hit the back of the vehicle, making it bump as the shot landed. Dan quickly pressed one of the buttons in front of him and the female voice spoke up again.

"Ecto-ray beam engaged."

There was a whir on top of the roof. Sam looked behind her out the window and saw a ray beam shoot out behind them. The woman dodged and chased after the RV, shooting out another purple beam. This time, it hit Sam's window. She covered her face and ducked as it shattered, scattering broken glass down her entire back and the seat. She heard Dan curse and fire off another ray beam. Suddenly, he grabbed her by the back of her dress and shoved her into the back.

"Get back there! Now! And stay down!"

She dived down to the back seat behind her and looked back at her old seat just in time to see a grapple hook snare itself underneath the door handle. Sam followed the cord attached to it with her eyes back to the woman. Her weapon was gone and was replaced with the end of the cord right into a compartment hidden inside her arm. With both hands, she started to pull herself towards them. Dan reached over to the hook, but stopped and looked out. With a wicked grin, put his hand back on the wheel and sped up. Sam looked at their pursuer, but the woman was still holding on despite the increased speed.

"It's not working!" Sam shouted back to Dan, "She won't let go!"

"Oh, she will," he replied, still grinning.

Suddenly, she heard the woman cry out. Sam watched as the woman's eys grew widewide with alarm while she frantically trying to pull the end of the hook out. Sam turned to see what was wrong and saw Skulker still covered in slime racing headfirst towards the other hunter. He too had a look of panic and was trying to slow himself down to no avail. Then the two hunters crashed hard into each other. The cord broke off from the grappling hook broke the hunters screamed as they were sent soaring back behind the RV. As soon as they were gone, Sam breathed out another sigh of relief.

"God, four hunters now? What the hell! Who was she anyway?"

Dan frowned and was quiet for a moment before finally answering, "Valerie. Valerie Gray,"

He was silent again as a troubled look came across his face. Finally, he muttered to himself so quietly, that Sam could barely hear what he said.

"What the hell is going on, your Majesty?"


	18. Chapter 18

Jazz slammed the book in her hand shut and shoved it back on the shelf. Nothing. Not one book, chapter, or even a sentence mentioning Sam. She would expect this from ectopuses. Those weren't exactly threatening enough to warrant anything written about them. But a ghost as powerful as the Queen... Something wasn't right here. There had to be some sort of literature about the her. Where was it, though? Jazz sighed and headed for the lab. Hopefully Vlad was having more luck than she was.

When she got to the lab, she saw him sitting at his computer with his phone pressed to his ear. Judging by his expression, the conversation wasn't going very well.

"I don't care who gets it done or how it gets done!" he shouted into the phone, "Just get it done! I should be finishing up my project by now, and yet here I sit twiddling my thumbs while I wait for you and everyone else to quit bumbling around and do what you're supposed to!"

Vlad pressed the disconnect button and slammed the phone onto his desk. He turned back to his computer while muttering something about never being able to find good help these days. Jazz stood on the bottom step and waited for him to calm down. Vlad noticed her standing there.

"Jasmine?"

"Sorry," she blushed, "Is this a bad time?"

"Oh, no, no. Actually, I'm glad you came down. I was just about to go look for you before that idiot-" he glared at his phone before turning back to her, "Nevermind. Anyway, I managed to find out a little bit more about your plant Queen."

"Really?" Jazz grinned, "What?"

"My sources tell me that this Queen Sam is an incredibly powerful and dangerous ghost. She's able to control every single plant in existence and command it to her bidding. What's worse, she's come here to the human world to raise an army of gigantic plants and take over our world!"

"I knew it! I knew she was up to no good! I have to go back to Amity Park and stop her!"

"That's another thing my sources tell me. She's not in Amity Park anymore."

"Wait, she's not? Well, where is she then?"

"On the road somewhere back in your state. I don't know where she's headed, but wherever it is, it can't be good."

"Right! Which means I need to go find her and send her back to the Ghost Zone."

She started to climb up the stairs, but Vlad got up and grabbed her shoulder.

"Wait a minute," he said, pulling her back, "I'm afraid it's not that simple."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, the Queen is so evil and so deadly that even the Ghost Zone wants nothing to do with her. We can't just send her back to the Ghost Zone. If we send her back to wreak havoc amongst the ghosts, then they'll all come flying here in the human world for safety."

"So, what do we do?"

"We're going to have to capture her and take her back to my lab," Vlad pointed at a steel chamber with wires and tubes connecting it to a large machine, "And then we destroy her with this."

"What is it?"

"This is my latest invention," he answered with pride, "You trap the ghost into the chamber, push a few buttons on the machine, and the ghost is then stripped of their powers, destroying them in the process as slowly and painfully as possible."

"Why slowly and painfully?" Jazz asked, warily.

"To send a message to any other ghosts that even think about destroying our world."

"Oh. I guess that makes sense."

"Of course it does," Vlad gently pushed Jazz up the steps, "Now, you go upstairs and get some sleep. We'll be leaving first thing tomorrow morning and stop that evil Queen Sam once and for all."

"You're coming along with me?" she asked as they entered Vlad's living room.

"Well, of course I am, dear girl. I can't just let you go after a dangerous ghost all by yourself. Maddie would never forgive me. It's my duty to her to ensure that nothing happens to you."

"Um," she replied, a bit dumbfounded, "Thank you?"

"Don't mention it. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to gather some equipment from the lab and pack it into the car," he pulled out the notebook Jazz had given him earlier and opened it to the weapons section, "Fortunately for us, your mother wrote down all of her ghost hunting gadgets here in this notebook and I happen to have some of these down in my lab. One of them has got to at least weaken the Queen, if not capture her."

"And I already have some of gadgets in my bag."

"Good," he closed the book and headed back towards the lab, "In that case, it shouldn't take me too long to pack. Now, run along Jasmine and get some sleep. I'll see you in the morning."

Jazz headed up to her room and reached for her bag. She turned it upside-down and emptied it onto the bed. Clothes, toiletries, andFenton gadgets fell out onto the bedspread as she quickly listed all of the items she had. It wasn't much, but she had no time to go back to Amity Park and get anything else. What she had now would have to do. She put her items back into the bag and went to brush her teeth. Having done that, she changed into her pajamas and pulled back the covers. She had just crawled into bed and had closed her eyes when a loud crash from below startled her. She sat straight up and listened as more crashing and banging rang throughout the entire house. She heard shouting and another crash. Finally, she heard a familiar voice from earlier today shout out.

"Beware!"

Oh, for crying out loud. What the hell was the Box Ghost doing here? Jazz jumped out of bed and grabbed a baseball bat with the word "Fenton" on it, and hurried downstairs. She heard another crash and realized it was coming from the lab.

"Beware!" the Box Ghost shouted, "For I am the Box Ghost! You cannot stop me, Plasmius!"

Plasmius? Who's Plasmius?

"Oh, please!" she heard another voice shout, "Even the most idiotic buffoons could stop you! Now get out!"

Was that Vlad? _CRASH!_ Jazz finally reached the lab. Boxes and lab equipment were strewn all over the place. Broken glass and machine parts covered the floor and gadgets had been tossed this way and that. Floating in midair right in the middle of the mess were two ghosts. The first one was the Box Ghost as Jazz had predicted, but the other one was new. He had blue skin, blood-red eyes, and jet black hair in the shape of a pair of devil's horns. Both ghosts looked at Jazz as she stepped into the room. The Box Ghost didn't seem to care about her presence, but the other ghost looked at her with alarm.

"Oh, fudge," he muttered.

"That's right!" she shouted, wildly swinging the bat, "You'd better be scared! I've got the Anti-Creep Stick with me and I'm not afraid to use it!"

"That's a baseball bat."

"It's a baseball bat with the word "Fenton" on it!"

"HA! Puny human!" the Box Ghost shouted, "Your pathetic stick is no match for me, the Box Ghost! Tremble in fear before me!"

"You couldn't make a baby tremble in fear before you," the other ghost said, snidely.

"Nobody asked you, Plasmius! Beware!"

Boxes started levitating in midair right next to the Box Ghost and launched them towards Plasmius. The other ghost yawned and made himself intangible, letting the boxes phase through him.

"Are you done now?" he asked in a bored tone, "Because if you are, I would like you to get out!"

"The both of you are getting out!" Jazz shouted.

She ran up to the Box Ghost, still madly swinging the Anti-Creep Stick. It made contact with him and sent him soaring through the air. The Box Ghost phased through the lab walls just as he was about to crash.

"Beware!" he shouted and he disappeared.

"That's one ghost down," Jazz said and then glared at Plasmius, "And one more to go."

She ran for him with the Anti-Creep Stick high above her head. Plasmius ducked just as she swung it down and blasted her with a pink ecto-beam. She cried out as the beam hit her and fell backwards to the floor. By the time she got back up to her feet, the ghost had made himself intangible and flew out of the lab.

"That's right!" Jazz shouted after him, "You'd better run! Well, technically you're flying, but you know what I mean!"

Jazz looked around the mess before her. Vlad was not going to be happy about this. She then looked at the wall where Plasmius had disappeared. Who was he anyway? Why was he in the lab?


	19. Chapter 19

Dan and the Queen had stopped for the night and were now preparing to eat in the back of the RV. He watched her in amusement at her gazing in awe at the microwave as it spun the frozen dinner inside. It was kind of cute really to watch her become fascinated with everyday human technology that most people didn't even think twice about. He liked the way her eyes lit up when she came across something that pleased her. Her eyes were already pretty, but when they lit up and sparkled like two precious gemstones, then they were absolutely beautiful. Those beautiful eyes turned to look at him. He felt his face grow hot as she noticed him staring at her.

"What?" she asked, "What are you staring at me for?"

"Um-" he stammered and turned back to what he was doing, "No- Nothing. Just still looking for something for you to eat."

Fortunately for them, the RV had a small freezer chest filled with frozen dinners. Unfortunately, the Queen had just told him she was an ultra-recyclo-vegetarian and couldn't eat most of these dinners. Which is why he was digging around looking for a suitable meal for her to eat. Finally, he pulled out one that had been stashed in the very back. Mud pies. Made from actual mud? What the-? The Queen had apparently seen him stop and looked over his shoulder.

"Ooh!" she said, grabbing the box, "My favorite."

Dan watched her eagerly run towards the microwave with the frozen dinner. After quickly glancing at the instructions on the back of the box, she took his meatloaf out and put her food in. She set the timer and watched the microwave cook her dinner. Her eyes lit up and sparkled again as she watched the process. His amused smile returned to his lips. God, she had beautiful eyes. He was going to miss them when he turned her in. The microwave beeped, bringing him back to reality. The Queen took out her food and sat at one of the folding chairs at a small table that barely had enough space for their plastic trays.

"So," she asked as they started eating, "How much longer until we're in Wisconsin?"

"I can't say for sure," he replied, "But probably by tomorrow night. Or the day after at the most."

"Good. I can't wait."

A troubled look came across her face and she was silent. She sadly stared into space and absentmindedly picked at her food. Dan looked at her curiously. What was wrong? Why did she look so depressed?

"I wonder what they're like," she murmured to herself.

"Who?"

"Huh? What?" she looked at him with a startled expression, her cheeks turning bright red.

"You wonder what who are like?"

"Uh, nothing. Nobody. Just mumbling to myself."

They ate in awkward silence for a moment before Dan finally spoke up.

"Anyways, your Majesty-"

"Sam."

"Yeah. Sam. Anyways, we should get to Wisconsin in a day or two and then, maybe a few more hours until we reach the safehouse."

"After I see my parents."

"Right, right. Parents first, then safehouse. But really, your Maj-"

"Sam."

"Really, Sam, it would be smarter to just go straight to the safehouse. I mean you've got four hunters after you. Your safety's at stake, here."

"I don't care. I need to see my parents."

"I'll let them know you're okay."

"You can't. It's not that simple."

"Why not? You gave me the address."

"It's- Look, they haven't seen me in a while. A long while. They wouldn't know what you're talking about."

"They wouldn't know what 'Your kid is safe' means?"

"They don't- It's complicated, alright. Can we please just drop it?"

She looked down and stared at her mud pie. She scowled and furrowed her eyebrows. He made her mad. Apparently, the Queen's parents was a forbidden topic. Wonder what happened. Dan also wondered why he cared. So she was pissed off, so what? He was going to piss her off anyway when he turned her in for the bounty. He needed to get a grip. Still, it would be a good idea to keep her as content as possible. Dan didn't want to make the Queen so furious with him that she'd leave.

"Well, your-"

"Sam."

"Your Sam," he smirked at her and to his surprise, she teasingly stuck her tongue at him, "If you're done with that..."

Dan held out his hand for her empty tray and she handed it to him. He threw the trays away and started searching the overhead compartments for a couple sleeping bags. Most of the RVs Dan had seen usually had a bed somewhere in the back. This one, however, was so crammed with all sorts of machinery, there was barely any room for the table let alone a bed. Finally, after going through four compartments, he found the sleeping bags all rolled up and stuffed in the very back. He took them out and set them on the floor.

"Well," he said, crawling into one, "Since I'm the one who's going to be driving all day tomorrow, I'm going to bed. Yours is right beside me whenever you're ready."

"Thanks," she replied, climbing into hers, "All this running-for-my-life thing can be really exhausting. Goodnight."

To Dan's disappointment, she turned to her side so that he could only see her back. Soon, he could hear the Queen snoring. Wow. She wasn't kidding about being exhausted. He watched her side slowly rise and fall. He couldn't help but go back to their conversation. Back at her lair, he had thought the overgrown weed was her father, but apparently, she had another one. One where it would be too complicated to say his kid's okay. How? Even if it had been a long time since the Queen's parents saw her, Dan couldn't imagine why it would be difficult to say their child's safe. Every parent wants to hear that, right? How long had it been since they saw her? Was there some sort of fight or something?

Dan then noticed the moonlight shining in on her hair now clean and free from any twigs or slime. Glossy, black hair and sparkling, violet eyes. They made a pretty combination, especially on her. He had hunted plenty of pretty ghost girls before, but now they seemed to all pale in comparison to her. God, he was going to miss her.

Dan fell asleep a moment later. There was nothing but the sound of them snoring for the next few hours. Suddenly, a soft _thud_ woke him up. He jolted upright and cocked his head as he listened to the sound of footsteps coming from the front. The Queen was awake, too, and stared in alarm at the door separating the back of the RV from the front. She gasped as the door started to crack open. Dan ran up to the door and grabbed the handle. He forced the door closed and leaned his entire weight on it. The person on the other side shouted and began pounding on the door and jiggled the handle.

"Hey!" a woman shouted, "I know you're in there, Queen. You'd better let me in right now!"

Shit. Valerie found them. Being as quiet as possible, Dan pointed at the back door. The Queen quickly got up, ran to the door, and shoved it open before racing outside. As soon as she was gone, he took his weight off the door he was guarding and opened it. Valerie had apparently been leaning her weight against the door as well, for as soon as it was opened, she fell forward to the floor with a startled shout.

"May I help you?" Dan sneered as she got back up, "I was having a pretty nice dream before you barged in here."

He was actually telling the truth. The Queen's hair was blowing in the wind and her eyes were sparkling with joy as she laughed and played amongst a bed of giant violets and irises. Damn, he was really losing it. Usually he didn't have any dreams when he slept. And the few times he did were always something weird like the time he dreamed the Box Ghost's lair was filled with cats.

"Where is she!" Valerie demanded, "Where's the Queen!"

"What Queen? There's no Queen here."

"Don't you play games with me! I saw her earlier today! Your busted window proves it!"

"My busted window proves that you've lost your mind. Now get the hell out of my RV!"

"I'm not leaving until-"

Valerie turned around and stopped. Crap. The open door! He forgot about the damn back door! She started to run through them, but Dan threw himself on the floor and grabbed her ankles. She fell forward and glared back at him. She held out her arm as a wrist cannon popped out and fired a purple beam at his face. He cried out in pain and let go. Valerie scrambled back up and headed for the door. As Dan got up he drew out a rope of ectoplasm from his arm and quickly tied the end of it in a large circle. He swung it above his head like a cowboy and threw it around her body. It caught her and pinned her arms to her side as he pulled, dragging her back towards him. She looked up at him completely baffled.

"How-" she stammered, "How'd you do that?"

Seeing as the Queen wasn't here at the moment, Dan thought there'd be no harm in letting out his little secret. Without saying a word, he transformed into his ghost self and gave Valerie a wicked grin.

"The Phantom!" she exclaimed in surprise.

"Yep," he replied, "And you are interfering with MY hunt!"

"Your hunt! The Queen's MY hunt! I was contacted specifically and offered $500,00 for her capture!"

"Out of curiosity," Dan replied, arching one of his eyebrows, "You didn't happen to have been contacted through an anonymous letter on your front porch, did you?"

"Well, actually it was on the windshield of my car."

"Why do I suddenly get the feeling Skulker got the same letter?"

"What does it matter? The Queen and the money is mine!"

Valerie bolted up to her feet, making Dan lose his balance and drop the ectoplasmic rope. She slid free and raced out the back door on her hoverboard. He flew after her and shot out several ecto-beams that she easily dodged. He was just about multiply himself into four when he was suddenly tackled to the ground and with an ectoplasmic gun pressed to his head.

"Where is she, welp?" Skulker demanded.

In response, he fired an ecto-beam in Skulker's face and shoved him off. The gun on Skulker's arm accidentally fired and hit a nearby tree, causing a small explosion that was strong enough to make it fall towards them. Dan flew off, leaving Skulker behind. He heard him shout as the tree fell on top of him.

"I officially hate trees," Skulker groaned from underneath.

Dan continued to fly off in search of Valerie. He found her and unfortunately, she found the Queen. Valerie was chasing after her on the hoverboard and fired off ray after ray from her hand blaster. Three small, purple cubes floating in midair stayed by her side and shot several rays of their own. Dan dodged them and blasted them with his ecto-beam. They broke into several small pieces and he went back for Valerie. He fired an ecto-beam at her, hitting the board. It jolted a bit from the shot, but stayed in the air. Valerie looked back and glared at him. She raised the hand blaster at him and fired. He dodged the shots and watched them hit Skulker who had just started to catch up. Skulker lost his balance and fell back to the ground while Dan and Valerie continued the fight. Still chasing after her prey, Valerie pointed up at him and the cubes flew towards him. They surrounded him and hit him as they simultaneously fired. Dan fell to the ground right on top of Skulker. Skulker took the back of Dan's head and smashed him into the dirt before flying back up. Dan followed and multiplied himself into four.

Two of his clones went after Skulker while he and the remaining clone chased after Valerie. They surrounded their victims and each one prepared to fire off another ecto-beam. Valerie shot Dan in the face with the hand blaster right before the clone grabbed her from behind and sent an electric shock through her body. She screamed and struggled to get free, but the clone held on for a few more seconds before finally tossing her to the ground, knocking her unconscious, and disappeared as soon as it was done.

Meanwhile, the other two clones had circled around Skulker and were shooting out ecto-beams at him. Skulker held out his arm and shot one clone with his ectoplasmic gun, making the clone disappear. He fired again at the remaining clone, but missed. Another shot was fired and missed again. Growling in frustration, Skulker grabbed the clone by the neck and threw him into a nearby tree. When the clone disappeared from the hit, Skulker turned towards Dan and charged after him. Dan flew towards the ground with Skulker behind him. Dan smirked. Good. Exactly what he was hoping for.

He headed for Valerie who was now stirring and trying to get back up. She looked up and saw Dan flying towards her. She raised up the hand blaster for another shot, but put it down she saw him suddenly change direction and fly up. A shout made her look back. There was Skulker quickly trying to slow himself down. Dan watched and smiled in amusement as Skulker crashed into her again. Valerie, understandably upset, punched Skulker in the face and kicked him off. Then she took out a black and red ecto-gun and pistol whipped him with it multiple times while he laid on the ground. As they shouted and argued with each other, Dan thought it would be a good idea to go find the Queen and bring her back to the RV so they could escape. He flew off and looked below him until he finally found her crouched behind a bush. He landed a few feet behind her and changed back into a human.

"Hey," he said.

She jumped and looked behind her with her eyes wide with fright. When she saw it was Dan, she glared at him as a branch from the bush extended towards him and thwacked him on the back of his head.

"Hey!" he protested.

"You scared me," she hissed, checking to make sure no one else was there, "Don't do that."

"Sorry," he mumbled, rubbing his sore head, "Valerie and Skulker are a bit busy which means we need to skeedaddle while we still have the chance. Like now."

The Queen looked up at the trees and remarked, "They have leaves this time. Perfect for hiding."

"We don't have time to hide. We need to run."

"We'll run through the tree tops. It'll be harder for them to find us up there."

She touched a nearby tree and it bent itself down towards her. She grabbed Dan's hand and led him onto a branch. The tree stood back upright and held out its branches until it formed a bridge to the next tree. They ran across as each tree started making branch bridges of their own, allowing them to run through undetected. Dan was worried the rustling of the leaves would give them way until he looked down to where Valerie and Skulker were. They were still fighting, only this time, Valerie was actually shooting the ecto-gun while Skulker tried to run away. Well, at least he knew Skulker wasn't going to be chasing after them for a while. When they reached the RV, the final tree bent down until it was level with the open back door. They ran inside, slammed the door shut, and headed for the front. They quickly scrambled to their seats and Dan slammed down on the accelerator, causing the RV to squeal its tires as it raced off into the night. Finally having escaped, the Queen relaxed back into her seat and panted heavily. Dan was panting, too, but quickly got his breath back after a few minutes.

"That was too close," she said.

He nodded in agreement and drove in silence. A few minutes later, he felt something on his shoulder. The Queen had fallen back to sleep and rested her head on him lolling gently from side to side as he drove on. God, he was going to miss her.


	20. Chapter 20

Sam sat on the front yard, staring sadly at all the nice, lovely girls playing across the street. She tossed her squishy ball from one hand to the other as she watched the other little girls with their friends, desperately wishing one of them would invite her to join them. But they never would. Nobody wants to play with a naughty brat like herself. And even if she were invited to play, Sam knew she wouldn't be allowed to go. Not as long as the evil was still there. The evil she so desperately tried to keep inside. The evil that made her a horrid, naughty child. If she went over to play, the evil inside her might hurt those good girls and try to hurt everyone else. That's why Sam had to stay away. So that the evil inside her wouldn't do anything bad to those good girls.

Sam jumped as she heard the door slam open and her name roughly being called. She quickly shoved the ball into her pocket and started to stand up. She noticed something yellow pop up from where she had just been. Sam looked down and gasped in fear. The evil! She did it again! She let the evil out again!

"Samantha," she heard a voice behind her say in a low, stern voice, "What's going on? What did you do?"

Sam looked back at the buttercup she had just created and let the tears fall. She tensed up and waited for her punishment.

"Ah!"

Sam woke up with a start and frantically looked around. She was back in the passenger seat of the RV right next to Dan who was slouched down and snoozing away. The RV was now parked in a secluded area surrounded by tall, wild grass covered in weeds. Sunlight was pouring in and a gentle breeze wafted in through Sam's broken window. Leaning back in her seat, Sam wiped the cold sweat off her brow and tried to calm her rapid breathing. It was just a nightmare. Just a stupid nightmare. There was no evil inside her and there wasn't any angry people anywhere wanting to punish her. It was all just a dream. Still, it was a very disturbing dream. And way too lifelike. It was almost like it was a memory...

A loud snore coming from Dan made Sam turn her attention towards him. She watched him for a few seconds, studying his face for what seemed like the upteenth time. There was something that kept nagging at her in the the back of her head. Something about Dan. More specifically, something that kept telling her she knew him from somewhere else. They've met before. And he knew. He had to know.

"Who are you?" she muttered to herself.

Apparently, she had muttered to loudly, for he suddenly woke up and bolted upright.

"What?" he cried before grabbing Sam and holding her tightly against him, "What? What's wrong? Sam, you okay?"

"Calm down!" she said, looking up at him, "I'm fine! What's with you?"

"Oh," he loosened his grip as he started blushing, "I thought maybe- You know- Just making sure- I mean with Valerie and- I'll just stop now."

Sam blushed along with him. The two were awkwardly silent as they sat in the RV completely still with Dan still pressing her against him. Not that she really minded. She enjoyed the warmth of his body with his arm shielding her. It felt comforting and safe. Safe from the hunters. Phantom, Skulker, Valerie. Safe from everyone. Right here against Dan, she was safe.

"Well," Dan awkwardly cleared his throat, "Better get going then."

He removed his arm from Sam and she reluctantly drew back to her seat. Damn. That ended way too soon.

"We just entered Illinois right before I parked," Dan said, starting the RV, "So, if we leave now, we should reach Wisconsin by nightfall."

"But what about breakfast?" Sam asked, "You're not hungry?"

She was soon answered by his growling stomach. He sighed as the RV moved forward.

"I'll look for someplace," he replied.

As the RV got back on the road, Sam thought back to what had happened just a few minutes earlier. Back to when he grabbed her and held her protectively against him. She couldn't understand what made him do that. Papa hired him to protect her, yes but Sam thought there was something else going on. This wasn't just some bodyguard keeping his client safe. This was something more. Something she liked. Something she thought was sweet. Suddenly, she realized something.

"You called me Sam," she said, looking up at him.

"That's your name, right?" he replied, looking down at her in confusion.

"Yeah, but, you've never called me Sam before. It was always 'your Majesty.'"

Dan looked stunned before finally saying, "Huh. You know, you're right."

Sam watched him as he continued driving down the road. She looked at his arm, wishing it were holding her again. Holding her and protecting her from whatever nightmare Dan woke up from.

"What were you dreaming about?" she asked him.

"Hmm?"

"When you woke up. You looked completely panicked and grabbed me. What were you dreaming about?"

"Nothing," Dan quickly blurted, turning red again, "Just- Just nothing. It was stupid."

"Aw, come on!" she pleaded, "Tell me! Please! There's nothing to do and I'm bored."

"I told you, it's stupid. Just a stupid dream."

"I'll tell you my stupid dream if you tell me yours."

Dan sat silently, staring straight ahead befroe finally giving in.

"Fine. I dreamt- Well, you were- This is stupid."

"Go on. What was the dream?"

"You were trapped in this weird machine that was hurting you and draining your powers."

"What?" Sam stared at him with big, wide eyes.

"See, I told you it was stupid."

"What, no," she replied, reassuringly, "It's not stupid."

"It's not?" Dan asked, skeptically.

"No. I mean, it's a bit disturbing. But not stupid," She was silent as she looked down in thought, "Though I do wonder what it means."

"It means I shouldn't be eating TV dinners anymore."

"Maybe," she replied, uncertainly before shaking her head, "Yeah, it was probably something you ate."

"Now, Sam," Dan gave her an amused smirk, "Your turn. What was your dream?"

"Oh, right. Well, I dreamt-" she stopped as she started to recall last night's nightmare, "I was watching some kids play and I wanted to join them, but I couldn't."

"Why not?"

"There was this evil inside me," she said, slowly as she tilted her head, "And I was afraid to let this evil out. Because if I did, something- Something bad would happen."

"Like what?"

"I don't know."

"Well, what did the evil do?"

"I don't know that, either," she shook her head, "And that's the confusing part. In my dream, I let the evil loose somehow, but the only thing it did was grow a flower. That's not very evil."

"No, it's not."

"And the really chilling part is, somehow, I get the feeling this actually happened in real life."

"Well, you do have plant powers. So this flower growing thing really shouldn't be a surprise to you."

"No," Sam shook her head, "That's not what I mean. I mean, I think that at some point, I actually did think my powers were evil. But, I don't know why."

"Well, if that did happen, I don't think it really matters anymore. Hey, a diner!"

Sam looked out the broken window and saw a small, yellow restaurant with a large neon sign flashing _Zeke's Eats._ Dan drove over to the parking lot and pulled over. Twenty minutes later, they were both inside and enjoying their breakfast.

"We can't stay long here," Dan said, halfway done with his eggs, "We need to get going soon if we're going to reach Wisconsin tonight."

Sam nodded as she continued with her meal. They would reach Wisconsin tonight. Then they would drive to Jeremy and Pamela Manson's house. Her parents' house. She would finally see her parents tonight. After twenty long years, the Manson family would be reunited tonight.

"Something wrong?"

Sam looked up and saw Dan looking at her strangely.

"No," she answered, "Why?"

"You looked bothered about something."

"What? No, no. I'm just excited that's all. Excited and nervous. I'm finally seeing my parents. It's been a while. A long while."

"What, you all get in a fight or something? Is that why you're so nervous?"

"No. That's not it. What happened-" Sam stopped and looked down at her plate, "Well, actually, I don't really know what happened. But it wasn't a fight. I know that. I think."

"You think?"

Sam kept staring down as a memory suddenly started in her head. She was lying still on her side keeping as quiet as she possibly could. There were voices in the next room shouting and arguing with each other. She could't hear what they were saying, but she knew the argument was about her. Because she had been bad again.

She shook her head and drifted back to reality in time to see Dan giving her an odd look. Then he shifted his gaze from her to something over her shoulder. He suddenly became alert and stared at whatever had caught his attention.

"Crap," he whispered.

"What? What it is?" Sam started to turn around, but Dan grabbed her shoulder.

"Don't move," he instructed.

"Why?"

"Shh."

Sam stopped talking as Dan tracked whatever was behind her. He quickly pulled out his wallet and tossed several bills on the table before shoving the wallet back into his pocket.

"Alright," Dan said, still keeping on eye on whatever he was focused on, "On my signal, you run back to the RV as quickly and quietly as possible. Understand?"

"What's going on?"

"I'll explain in the RV. Just do as I say!"

Sam nodded and watched him stand up. He got in front of her, blocking her from the rest of the diner and pulled her up. Together, they made their way towards the exit as Dan kept close to her, making sure no one could see her pass by. When they were outside, they broke out into a run and raced back to the RV. When they got to their seats, Sam turned towards Dan.

"Okay," she said as he started the vehicle, "You want to tell me what that was all about?"

"The Guys in White," he answered, "One of them was holding a Wanted poster with your face on it."

"What? That can't be right! I'm not wanted!"

"Think again, Queen!"

Before anyone could tell what was happening, a glowing, green net tangled itself around Sam. She screamed in surprise and attempted to free herself. She was lifted up into the air as her captor started to phase through the roof.

"Skulker!" Dan shouted, grabbing the net and pulling it back down, "Let her go!"

Skulker raised up his arm and shot and shot an ecto-laser beam from one of his weapons at Dan's face, forcing him to let go of the net. After Dan let go, Skulker continued flying and phased through the RV. As Sam struggled, she watched as a gun suddenly emerged from the RV roof and shot out a trail of slime. He dodged, letting the slime land on the diner's neon sign. More slime came heading their way, but Skulker let each one phase through him. A missile launcher appeared from his back and he shot three missiles at the RV. It quickly got out of harm's way and fired more slime in retaliation. Skulker fired one more missile, this time making contact. The RV was sent soaring backwards several feet until it was flipped over onto its side. Satisfied, Skulker flew off with Sam still trying to break free.

"Let me go!" she shouted, "Let me go right now!"

"Oh, shut up!" Sulker sneered at her, "I've just about had enough with you!"

"Well, then put me down! Let me go and I'll be out of your hair!"

"You'll be out of my hair after I turn you in to my employer! Now, shut up!"

"Your employer? What employer? What does he want with me?"

"I don't know and I don't care. I just want my money. Now, shut up before I decide to test out my new blade on you!"

"If you even think about hurting me, you'll be sorry! Dan will make you sorry!"

Why she said that, she didn't know. She was a little surprised that came out at all. But somehow, Sam had a feeling that as surprising as it was, what she said was true. Dan would make Skulker sorry, not that she really expected Skulker to care. In face, he seemed to be laughing at this idea.

"Oh, really now?" he answered, "Is that what he told you?"

"What he told me? What are you talking about?"

"You foolish girl. You really don't have a clue, do you?"

"About what?"

Suddenly, something large and heavy slammed into Skulker, sending both him and Sam spiraling out of control to the ground. They both landed with a hard _THUD!_ and the object that attacked Skulker landed right on his foot.

"HEY!" he cried, trying to wriggle it out, "Get this thing off me!"

Sam looked up and saw that the object was the RV with two gigantic springs sticking out on its side. Huh. So that's why it was called Spring Mode. Dan quickly slammed open the door and ran towards Sam. He was just about to grab the net when it was suddenly snatched from.

"She's mine, whelp!" Skulker shouted.

He held out his arm and aimed another ecto-gun at his opponent's face when he was suddenly shot by a green laser beam. He released the net only to have it be picked up by a man wearing white.

"Actually," he said as another man in white arrived next to him, "She's ours."

Before anybody could react the Guys in White took off with Sam in tow. She desperately tried to claw her way out of the net, still unsuccessful. She stuck her arm out and reached for Dan who was trying to keep up with them.

"Dan!" she shouted, "Help!"

He tried to grab her hand, but one of the guys saw him following and aimed his ecto-weapon at him.

"Step away from the royal paranormal spectre," he commanded.

"The what?" Sam asked herself.

"We understand that you want to do your part in ridding this world of evil ghosts, but we can't allow citizens to risk their lives chasing after clearly dangerous spirits like her."

"Like me?" Sam repeated, "What do you mean like me? I'm not a dangerous spirit!"

"Quiet you!" the other Guy in White commanded.

He grabbed hold of the net and opened to the double doors to the back of a white van with the letters "GIW" painted on the side. He was just about to shove her in when he suddenly froze and started screaming. Sam looked back at Dan and saw that he had drawn his electric whip weapon and had wrapped it around both Guys in White, sending painful electric shocks their way. Both Guys slumped to the ground groaning in pain as Dan tore the net in two. He grabbed Sam and they both ran back to the RV, paying no mind to Skulker who was still struggling to free himself. As soon as they were inside, Dan immediately grabbed the wheel and drove off, running over Skulker in the process.

The Guys in White had managed to recover by then and went after them in their van as Dan raced down the road. The van sped up and hit the RV's bumper, trying to force them to stop. The two shouted as they felt the bump, but kept on going without slowing down. The van rammed into them again. That still wasn't enough to make them stop. Finally, it swerved to the left and increased its speed. Sam looked out Dan's window and gasped as she saw one of the Guys aiming his ecto-weapon at Dan. She then noticed there were trees whizzing by alongside of the road.

"That way!" she shouted, grabbing Dan's shoulder and pointing towards the trees, "Go that way!"

Dan obeyed and made a sharp right turn towards the woods. The Guys in White followed just as Sam had hoped.

"Now swerve until they're on my side!" she commanded.

Again, Dan did as he was told and swerved the RV until he could see the van approaching on the other side.

"Now stop!"

"What!" he looked at her in disbelief.

"I said stop! Trust me!"

He quickly screeched the RV to a complete stop. Sam reached out her window and grabbed the nearest branch. Immediately, she could hear the two Guys in White shout out in alarm as the tree extended out its branches towards the van. The branches grew until they broke through the windshield and wrapped themselves around the vehicle. The Guys in White continued screaming as the branches picked up the van and shook it up and down. Finally, when Sam thought they were nice and terrified, she commanded the branches to take the van up and place onto the tallest branch on the tree as possible. That ought to slow them down. The screams continued as the van was flipped upside-down and lifted high up into the tree until it could no longer be seen. Sam let go of the branch and urged Dan to drive.

As they headed back towards the road, Sam sank back into her seat. Five hunters now. Wonderful. Dan was going to have one hell of a time trying to hide her in the safehouse with five hunters on their tail. As if reading her mind, Dan extended out his arm and wrapped it around her shoulders. She let him guide her until she was pressed against his chest again. Back to where she knew she would be safe.


	21. Chapter 21

"Did you find anything else about this Queen Sam ghost in Mom's notes?"

Jazz sat in the passenger seat of Vlad's red car with most of their hunting gadgets strewn about in the backseat. Vlad shook his head, not taking his eyes off the road.

"No, I'm afraid not," he responded, "Maddie didn't have a single entry about that girl whatsoever."

"Great," she grumbled, "I was afraid you'd say that."

"Oh, don't look so down, Jasmine. Maddie might not have anything to say about the plant Queen, but she's got plenty to say about the gadgets. One of them's bound to capture the her."

"I hope so, especially since the thermoses aren't going to work. That's my go-to weapon, and I can't use it!"

"There's always that Fenton vacuum thing."

"You mean the Fenton Weasel?"

"Right. That. Or the Fenton Grappler. Maddie seemed to like that one a lot. Oh! And the Ecto-Converter! She wrote a lot about that one, too. I'm sure the Ecto-Converter will put that nasty Queen in her place! I think that's what we ought to use. What do you think, Jasmine?"

"We don't have the Ecto-Converter."

"Oh," Vlad looked a bit disappointed at this news, "Well, that's alright. I'll just have somebody pick it up from your place. Where did you leave it?"

"In the RV. Which was stolen. Which I haven't gotten back. There's no Ecto-Converter anymore."

"What!" Vlad was so surprised to hear this, he almost ran off the road, "It's in the RV? Well, when are the police going to find it?"

Jazz stared back at him, extremely uneasy. He's never acted like this before. What was going on with him? They had plenty of other gadgets to use. Why was he being so insistant on the Ecto-Converter? It wasn't even suposed to capture ghosts. So, why did he want the damn thing so badly?

"Vlad?" she asked, warily, "Is something wrong? Why do you want the Ecto-Converter so much?"

"What?" he blinked for a moment before answering, "Oh- Well- I'm just rather eager to get rid of that evil Queen, that's all. I figured the Ecto-Converter would be the best way."

He had an irritated expression as he drove. Jazz had a feeling that he wasn't telling the complete truth. There was something more here. Something she couldn't quite put her finger on. She considered asking him what was really going on, but given his current mood, decided it would probably be wiser if she didn't.

"But, since we don't have the Ecto-Converter," she asked, "What's the plan now?"

"Hmm," he mumbled to himself, not really answering her question, "Maybe I can use some sort of substitute? But what? And where am I going to find it at the last minute?"

"Last minute? But we haven't even come across- LOOK OUT!"

Vlad had been so preoccupied with brain-storming for ideas of a last-minute Ecto-Converter, he was no longer paying attention to the road and nearly hit the guardrail. He quickly swerved to avoid a crash, but the car ended up spinning out of control in the opposite direction. Vlad and Jazz screamed as the car spun until it finally hit a power line. The power line groaned as it slowly started to fall over.

"Oh, Butter Biscuits," Vlad muttered.

Vlad and Jazz realized what was going to happen and dashed right out of the car just in time. It hit the hood of the car, crumpling it, and sprinkling sparks all over the car as the live wires thrashed about on the ground.

"You okay?" Jazz panted.

"Fine," he stood up and dusted the dirt off him before glaring back at his vehicle, "Wonderful. This is just wonderful. Now we don't have a car."

"So, what do we do? Find a taxi?"

"In the middle of Wisconsin? I don't think so. Besides, I can't go anywhere without my laptop which is still in the car. And the taxi driver's not going to fetch it out for me. Not with these live wires in the way."

"So, what do we-"

"I am Technus!" a voice shouted from seemingly out of nowhere, "Master of all machinery!"

"Oh, Cheese Doodles," Vlad muttered, "Not this idiot."

"And I shall take over your car and claim it as my own!"

A live wire rose up from the ground set off another electric spark. The spark turned into a tall ghost in a black trenchcoat and a bluish-grey cape. The ghost placed his hand on the car and fused himself inside, posessing it completely. The car turned bright green and the ghost's face appeared on the hood.

"And now that I, Technus, Ruler of all things electrical, have your car," Technus continued shouting, "I shall use it as part of my battle armor and no one will be able to stop me from taking over the world!"

The car screeched its tires as it backed away from the power line and started off down the road, cackling madly.

"Hey!" Vlad started chasing after it, "Give me back my car!"

Jazz followed and quickly pulled out her Fenton Laser Lipstic Blaster from her pocket. She started blasting at the car with the lipstick, being careful not to hit Vlad.

"Hey! Stop!" she shouted as she blasted the car with another beam.

It hit the tail light and broke it. The car let out a frustrated growl and put itself in reverse. Jazz realized it was trying to run her over and quickly dove down to the side of the street right before it hit her. Growling again, the gear shift moved itself and urged the vehicle forward, once again aiming for Jazz. She quickly got up and ran while firing the lipstick blaster behind her. A laser beam cracked the windshield and another popped a hole in the front tire. But still, the car kept on going without losing any speed.

"Foolish girl!" it shouted, "Your puny laser can't stop me! For I am Technus! Ghost of all-!"

"Get out of my car, you insane idiot!"

While Jazz had been destracted, Vlad figured out that chasing after his car wasn't going to be very successful, so he waited until it got close enough for him to jump on. Which is exactly what he was doing. He jumped on the hood of the car and was banging on the windshield to get it to stop.

"Insane idiot?!" the car shouted in outrage, "Do you have any idea who I am?!"

"I'm pretty sure I can hazard a guess," Jazz said, sarcastically.

The car swerved to and fro, trying desperately to get rid of Vlad.

"Get out of my car!"

"Get off of me!" it shouted back.

Jazz caught a glimpse of something green levitating in the backseat. At first she thought it was the ghost, but when an object shot out the window and floated right before her, she realized it was actually a Fenton Thermos. Technus had overshadowed the ghost hunting gadgets! Soon several more gadgets fired out all four windows and levitated right before Vlad and Jazz.

"Say bye-bye!" Technus said.

Jazz ducked as a Fenton Wrist Ray fired at her, missing her completely. Vlad was not so lucky. The Fenton Foamer let out a _BANG!_ and Vlad was sent flying backwards off the hood covered in slime. Another _BANG!_ Sent him soaring away to where Jazz couldn't even see him anymore. She heard the wrist ray fire from behind and tried to duck, but was too late. She got hit in the back of the head and was sent sprawling to the ground. She got back and angrily aimed the lipstick blaster at the car, but stopped when she saw the car was now facing her again with the gadgets all facing her menacingly.

"You should run now," the car suggested.

Jazz thought that was a swell idea and sprinted off with the car and the gadgets right behind her. The weapons all fired whatever ecto-ray or slime they were loaded with while the car repeatedly tried to run her over.

"Hey!" it shouted in frustration, "How am I supposed to kill you if you keep dodging out of the way!"

It growled angrily before suddenly shooting electric ecto-rays at her from its headlights.

"What?!" Jazz shouted, "It can do that?!"

"What? I can do that? Nice!"

Jazz shrieked and urged herself to run even faster as the car joined in with the gadgets at firing off rounds of ecto-rays at her. Suddenly, she felt something fly past.

"Get out of there, you lunatic!"

"Lunatic?! Who do you think- URK!"

Jazz turned around and watched in shock as the Plasmius ghost from the night before pulled out Technus from the car with the Ghost Gauntlets. Immediately, the car came to a stop and the floating gadgets dropped to the ground.

"Put me down!" Technus shouted as he struggled to break loose, "Do you have any idea who you're messing with?! I am-"

"Oh, shut up!" Plasmius slammed Technus face-first into the asphalt.

"How dare you! Now I, Technus, Ghost of all things technological, shall- HEY!"

By this time, Jazz had picked up a thermos from the clutter of gadgets and uncapped it, sucking the Ghost of all things electrical inside. When he was in, she aimed the thermos at Plasmius.

"Drop those guantlets now, ghost and surrender!"

She uncapped it once more and at that moment, Plasmius thought it was high time he got out of there. Before she knew what was happening, he flew off.

"Hey!" she shouted after him, "Get back here, spook!"

But he was already gone. She glared at where he had disappeared for a moment before turning back to the car. It was covered in scorch marks and slime all over the front and back. Headlights were missing. Tail lights were missing. There was a flat tire. The windshield was cracked and all four windows were broken. And the crumpled hood had completely fallen off after Vlad had been pushed off by the Fenton Foamer.

She looked down the road to see if she could spot Vlad. Nothing. Where was he? How far did that ghost shoot him off? She had to go find him. But what if he was too far for her to walk? She wasn't so sure the car worked anymore. She turned back to the car and eyed it skeptically before heaving a long sigh. Might as well at least try. Jazz got inside and found the keys still in the ignition. She turned on the ignition and much to her surprise, the car still actually worked. Cautiously, she started to go forward and grinned as it drove just fine. Sure, the flat tire was slowing her down a bit, but other than that, everything seemed fine.

"Jasmine!"

Jazz spotted Vlad waving at her from the side of the road. She stopped the car and opened the door.

"Well," he said as he climbed inside, "That was quite interesting. Do we have anything left in the backseat?"

"No. They're all back that way."

"Better get them back before we move on. Come on, Jasmine."

She put the car in reverse until she got back to the mess. As she stepped outside, she felt the thermos tremble.

"Uh, Vlad?"

He turned just in time to see the thermos fall from Jazz's belt and hop about on the ground.

"I am Technus!" the ghost inside the thermos shouted, "Master of all circuitry! And once I have escaped this confounded thing, I shall take over another car and use that as my battle armor for my world domination!"

Jazz dove down for the thermos, but it jumped just out of her reach. Vlad tried to snatch it, but again, the thermos was too quick, and he let out a pastry curse as he fell to the ground. Soon they were both trying to catch it as it hopped about while laughing maniacally.

"Oh, snickerdoodles!" Vlad finally shouted, standing up, "Just leave it! We've got worse problems on our hands right now. Like the Queen for example."

Jazz nodded and watched the thermos laughing maniacally as it danced down the road.


	22. Chapter 22

"Will you stop looking behind us every five seconds?" Dan asked as Sam poked her head out for what seemed like the thousandth time, "We're not being followed."

"Yeah, now," she snorted, "But they'll be here sure enough."

"They're not going to get you. You're safe with me."

Well, actually she wasn't, but there was no reason to let her know that. She was a nervous wreck enough as it was. Not that Dan could blame her. Over five or six attacks in just two days was enough to make anybody paranoid.

Sam looked out her window again. Her body was tense and her eyes were wide with fear. That gleam he had seen in those eyes the night before was replaced with dread as she anxiously waited for the next attack. Just seeing her like this, filled his own heart with dread. And anger, too. Anger at those other hunters, not for trying to take his bounty, but for trying to take his Queen away. For making her like this. What the hell was wrong with him?

Dan wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

"Look, I'm with you, and I'm going to keep you safe."

And this time he actually meant it.

"Five hunters, Dan," Sam reminded him, "I've got five hunters after me. And that's just for now. Imagine how many more I've got coming my way. One of them is bound to get me sooner or later."

"Or never," holding her close to him, "Because I'm here. And I'm going to get you to your parents safe and sound."

"What about the safehouse?"

"What about the safehouse?" he responded, shrugging his shoulders.

"Usually, you say you're taking me to the safehouse. This time you didn't."

Shit, he didn't? He just said the parents' house?

"Nevermind," Sam said, sadly shaking her head, "It doesn't matter. I've been doing a little thinking, and I don't think it's such a great idea to go there, after all."

"Huh? What? But the whole point of this road trip was for you to go and visit them."

Damn, there was something wrong with him. That wasn't the point of this at all! The point was to turn her in to his employer.

"I thought the point was to get me to the safehouse?" she replied, arching up her eyebrow.

Shit, he screwed up again.

"Well, yes," he nodded, "That too."

"Well, then just take me straight there. I don't what any of those hunters to find my parents. I don't want my parents getting hurt because of me. Would be just my luck to have one of those bastards find my family and make them hate me before we've even met."

"Before you've even what?!" If Dan didn't need to keep his eyes on the road, he would probably be staring at Sam right now.

"I told you it was complicated."

"What do you mean you've never met them? You told me that you hadn't seen each other in a while!"

"I haven't," she insisted, "It's been twenty years. I got seperated from them somehow when I was a kid and Papa found me. That's why I was so insistent on seeing them first. But now- Now, I just can't risk that. "

"So that's why you wanted to see them so badly. But why'd you wait so long? You couldn't find them?"

"Papa didn't tell me until yesterday. That would explain why I don't have ghost powers. Kind of hard for humans to shoot ecto-rays let alone fly."

Human? Sam was a human? That didn't make any sense. Wait a minute, that's why the thermos didn't work! Humans can't be sucked in! Only ghosts! But what about her flower powers? Humans can't do that! And why the hell did his employer want Dan to hunt down a human? He'd never done that before! Even that crazy Clockwork never made him do that! What the goddamned hell was going on here?!

Suddenly, Dan and Sam both jolted up and bounced in their seats as they felt the RV run over something. They heard a _CRACK!_ as the tires went over it. Sam winced at the sound and quickly looked out the window down at the ground.

"We didn't hit a squirrel or a raccoon, did we?" she shouted, "I don't see any blood!"

"Wait," Dan responded as he heard something strange from underneath the vehicle, "Do you hear something?"

"Yeah," her head came back inside, "It kind of sounds like somebody lauging like some sort of mad lunatic."

"Hey!" a voice shouted, "Who are you calling a lunatic?!"

Dan and Sam gasped as a ghost in a trenchcoat and cape appeared levitating twelve inches above the hood. He scowled at them with his arms folded in front of him.

"I am Technus!" he announced a moment later, "Ghost of all things mechanical!"

"Oh, great," Sam groaned, "Now the count's up to six!"

"And I shall- ACK!"

Dan had already pressed the RV's Fenton Foamer at Technus, covering him in slime. He slammed his foot down on the accelerator and swerved out of the way of the ghost. Sam nervously looked behind her as the RV sped onwards.

"He's not following us," she said, relaxing a little, "He's still stuck to the ground."

"See?" Dan put his hand under her chin and raised her head up gently towards him, "I told you you're safe with me."

She blushed and shyly cast her eyes downwards with a small smile on her lips. He found himself blushing and shyly smiling at her, too. God, he was making an idiot of himself. Though come to think of it, he really didn't care.

A sudden blast from behind them interrupted their bliss. They both lurched as the RV jerked. Dan couldn't make the vehicle go any faster. It was already at its maximum speed. Damn that ghost was fast. Another blast made the RV jerk again. He slammed his fist down on one of the buttons in front of him.

"Ecto-ray Beam engaged."

He heard the ray gun fire. Judging by the cry from behind, it got its target. Just as Dan was about to fire it again, he suddenly heard something land on top of the roof. That can't be good. He was soon proven correct when they heard a _CLANG!_ and a ball-shaped dent caved into the ceiling. Before anybody could ask themselves what was going on, jolts of electricity was sent coursing through their bodies. Both Dan and Sam screamed as they were electrocuted in their seats. Finally, it stopped. They moaned and grunted in pain as Technus phased himself through the roof until he was standing on the backseat. Dan glared at him, noticing that this time, he was carrying a staff with some sort of electric orb, still sparking from the electric blast it had just shot out. Well, at least he knew what caused the dent in the roof.

"I am Technus!" the ghost shouted, "Master of all electrical devices! And How dare you attack me!"

"Sam!" Dan shouted, "Run!"

She shoved the door open and dashed right out of the RV and off the road.

"Well," Technus said, watching her sprint off into the woods off the side of the road, "That's one down."

"Wait," Dan blinked in surprise, "You mean you're not chasing after her?"

"Chase after her? Of course not! Why would I? I don't want her! I want the RV!"

"The RV?" he repeated.

Dan wasn't exactly sure whether he ought to be relieved he wasn't dealing with another hunter, or pissed off that he was dealing with a carjacker.

"Now get out!" Technus demanded, "So I can use this vehicle as my armor in my plan to dominate this world!"

"Wait, what?" Dan stared at him in disbelief.

Before he could react, Technus had flown to the front seat and grabbed Dan by the collar. He yanked him towards the open door and shoved him out.

"Now get out! Shoo!"

Dan landed hard on his back. He grunted in pain as he sat up. He was just about to transform into his ghost half when he heard a mad cackle and saw the RV suddenly turn bright green. Technus' face appeared on the hood and laughed again.

"Now, I, Technus, Ruler of appliances, am now prepared to conquer this human world in my new battle armor!"

Dan watched completely stupified as the RV sped on down the road, laughing maniacally. After a moment or two, he shook his head in disbelief and slowly stood up, still grunting in pain. He walked towards where he saw Sam run off and called out her name.

"Sam!" he cried, "Hey, Sam! Hey, where'd you go!"

He heard something from behind and spun around to see Sam land on the ground from one of the trees.

"Is he gone?" she asked, nervously.

"Well," he replied, staring back, "The good news is he's not a hunter and has no interest in you."

"Oh. Well, that's good. What's the bad news?"

"He stole the RV.

"And we have no way of getting to the safehouse."

Dan was silent. Well, yes. They did have a way. He could fly them there. But there was no way he could use his ghost form now. Sam was already timid enough as it was. The last thing he wanted was for her to see Phantom right in front of her. And he couldn't deal with that. He couldn't deal to see the betrayal and the fear on her face. Or deal with her running away from him. Because of him.

"So," Sam said, "Now what? How are we supposed to get to the safehouse now?"

Dan looked at her and watched her gaze down the road with worry written all over her. A knot formed in his stomach.

"There may be another way," he found himself saying.

"Really? What?"

"I know another place," what the hell was he doing, "Not the safehouse, but somewhere else."

"Where?"

He needed to take her to Wisconsin and turn her in to his employer. But that's not what he wanted. He discovered to his surprise that he had made up his mind right then and there that Dan was going to keep Sam for himself. His employer would just have to deal with being disappointed. But, he still had the other hunters to worry about. And as much as Dan hated to admit this, and god, he hated it so much, he knew there was only one place where she would be truly safe from harm.

"You ever hear of anybody named Clockwork?"


	23. Chapter 23

"You really think this Clockwork guy can help?" Sam asked.

The two were now trekking deeper into the woods as Dan led the way to a natural portal into the Ghost Zone. How he was quite sure where it was, Sam didn't ask, and quite frankly, she didn't care. Just as long as they were far, far away from all of those hunters. She couldn't help but glance back over her shoulders every few seconds just to be sure they weren't being followed. After looking back for the thousandth time, she saw that Dan had noticed what she was doing. He gently took her by the shoulders and held her close to him. His arm was wrapped around her protectively against the outside world. For the first time in several hours, Sam felt safe again.

"He's the only one I trust," Dan replied before muttering, "As much as I really hate admitting it."

"'Hate admitting it?'" Sam asked, "Why? Do you two not get along?"

"He likes playing mind games with you. At least, he does to me. Gets a bit creepy after a while."

"Great," she muttered, sarcastically, "Five hunters and a creep."

"He's fine," Dan tried to reassure her, "He's just weird. You'll see for yourself when we get to the Ghost Zone."

"How do you know this guy, anyway?"

Dan looked away from her with his cheeks turning bright red. Sam arched up an eyebrow at him quizically. Strange. Did she say something wrong?

"Dan?"

"Oh, well-" he stammered, turning back towards her, "He's a friend of a friend of a friend. That sort of thing."

He was lying. She could see it all over his face. But before she could inquire any further, Dan quickly continued on with his explanation, waving his hand dismissively.

"It really doesn't matter how I know him. What's important is he'll be able to keep you safe."

Sam hoped he was right. After hearing his description of his ghostly friend, she wasn't exactly very eager to meet him. But if Dan said Clockwork was harmless, then Sam was going to take his word for it. Hopefully, Clockwork could hide her from the hunters. They just had to get the Ghost Zone. Wait a second. She just realized there was a little problem.

"Hey, Dan?"

"Hmm?"

"How exactly are we going to get to Clockwork's, anyway?"

"What do you mean?"

"When we get to the Ghost Zone. Just how exactly are we going to get to his lair? We can't fly and we don't have a vehicle. So, how are we supposed to get there?"

Dan's eyes went wide and he stammered to answer. Apparently, he hadn't considered that little problem. After failing to come up with an answer, his cheeks turned bright red again and he cast his eyes downwards. Sam looked at him quizically. What was going on?

"Dan?"

"We'll- I'm sure- See-" he stammered, still looking at the ground.

"What is it?"

"We'll- We'll figure something out when we get there."

Sam still looked at him with a puzzled expression on her face. He was hiding something. She broke away from his embrace and came to a stop. Dan looked back at her, allowing her to see the guilt written all over his face.

"Dan, what's going on?" she demanded, "Is something wrong?"

Before he was able to answer, a female voice interrupted.

"It is for you, Queen!"

They both looked up at Valerie just as she fired her ecto-gun. Sam was unable to dodge in time and was hit was in the stomach, forcing her down on her knees. Dan took the nine tails whip and aimed at Valerie, but she shot it out of his hand with another round from the ecto-gun. She lunged for Sam, but Dan grabbed her first and ran past Valerie with Sam cradled in his arms. Sam could hear the sound of Valerie's hoverboard chasing after them right before seeing another shot from the ecto-gun land several inches from them. Dan dodged as Valerie continued firing off her weapon, growling in frustration at each missed shot. The shots soon ceased, but Sam knew Valerie was still close behind. She could still hear the hoverboard. Suddenly, Dan yelped as something caught his foot and tripped him over, sending both him and Sam to the ground. They looked and saw Valerie's hook from her grappling gun had snagged around his ankle. She caught up to them and hovered right in front of them with a triumphant smirk. She reached for Sam, but was grabbed from behind by a giant vine that had suddenly shot up from the ground. Sam waved her hand to the side and the vine obeyed by lifting Valerie high into the air before smashing her to the ground.

At the distraction, Dan and Sam ran past her. Sam held out her hand and one of the trees bent down to her level. They jumped onto a branch and the tree straightened itself up. As soon as it was upright again, the sound of the hoverboard started up. Sam spread out her arms and the trees bent their branches to form bridges connecting one tree from the next. They ran across the treetops with Valerie close behind. By this time, she had put away her ecto-gun and was now using her wrist cannon. As soon as Sam could see the shots coming, she pointed at the leaves, making them grow ten times their normal size, and used them as shields from each shot. Valerie soon figured out she was getting nowhere and put away the wrist cannon. She took out three cubes and threw them at her prey. Sam looked behind her and saw the cubes chasing after them. One fired at her, nearly causing her to lose her balance as she dodged the shot. Another cube fired, and again, Sam nearly fell. Then all three cubes fired at once. This time, the shot was enough to break the branch off the tree, sending Dan and Sam to the ground. Valerie flew down to their level, attaching a net to her grappling gun. She aimed the gun at Sam, but Dan quickly got on top of her, using his body as a shield. Growling, Valerie took out her ecto-gun again and fired, knocking him off. She aimed the grappling gun again, but suddenly screamed as a blast hit her from behind. She was knocked off her hoverboard and came crashing to the ground with her board landing beside her.

"Step aside and let the professionals handle this," a voice commanded.

Sam gasped as she saw the Guys in White heading towards her with their weapons drawn and aimed directly at her.

"Run!" Dan commanded as he yanked her up to her feet, "I'll hold them off! Just run!"

Before she could protest, he shoved her behind him and started swinging at one of the Guys. He punched the Guy in the face, but was shot from behind by the other one with his ecto-gun. Sam was just about to join the fight when out of the corner of her eye, she saw Valerie aim her grapple gun at her again. Sam ran just as Valerie fired. She heard Valerie muttering curses under her breath as she continued the chase.

"You can't run from me forever, Queen!" she shouted, "I'll get you!"

Sam spread out her arms again as she kept running. The trees extended out their branches and bent them until they formed a net behind her, trapping Valerie from going any further. Valerie immediately came to a stop and started shooting at the wooden net with her ecto-gun to no avail. The branches would not budge. Snarling, she started climbing them, but the higher she went, the more branches entangled into each other above her, preventing her from getting to the other side.

This time, the curses Sam heard behind her were shouted out for the entire world to hear, but she didn't care. Valerie was stuck and couldn't chase after her anymore. For now. Now it was time to help Dan with the Guys in White. Sam placed her hand on a tree and it bent down its branches towards her, allowing her to jump on. The branch righted itself up again as Sam started to make the branch bridges from a few moments before. She raced through the trees with her eyes on the ground, looking for Dan. Suddenly, she heard an ear-piercing wail coming from straight ahead of her. She covered her ears as the wail continued, making the trees tremble. Whatever was making that sound, it wasn't human. Was it some sort of weapon from the Guys in White? As soon as the wail died down, she uncovered her ears and continued towards Dan. Finally, she spotted a Guy sprawled onto the ground, apparently unconscious. She looked around for Dan and the other Guy, but couldn't find them. Where'd they go? Then she saw movement just ahead of her. She went towards it and gasped. The Phantom! How'd he find her?

The Phantom had his back towards her and was high up in the sky holding a bruised Guy by the collar. With a grunt, he spun around three or four times before hurling the Guy to the ground. The Guy screamed as he fell until he finally landed and was knocked unconcious. With his back still facing Sam, the Phantom landed on a nearby branch, panting in exhaustion. Two white circles formed around his waist and traveled in opposite directions around his body. Right before Sam's very eyes, the Phantom transformed into Dan. She gasped again. This time, he heard her and looked to see Sam's wide eyes and gaping mouth staring at him with shock and horror. He reached out to grab her, but she had already spun around and started running.

"Wait! Sam!"

But she didn't listen. With tears streaming down her face, Sam kept running. Away from the terror. Away from the betrayal. Away from Dan.


	24. Chapter 24

"We should be pretty close," Vlad announced after glancing down at his phone, "The Queen should be nearby."

"How do you know?" Jazz asked, looking at him questioningly.

This time, it was Jazz who was driving and Vlad in the passenger seat. Despite the car being almost completely destroyed thanks to the ghost of shouting everything to the heavens, it actually still ran very well. Sure, the flat tire slowed them down a bit, but at least not significantly.

"Oh," Vlad replied, quickly putting away his phone, "I have a few people keeping a lookout for her."

"Who?" Jazz asked.

"No one important. Just a couple hired hands I asked to help out, that's all. Anyways, Jasmine, we really need to strategize here as to how we're going-"

Vlad glanced out the windshield and was suddenly quiet. He stared out in front of him for a few minutes. Jazz stared out, too, not really believing what she was seeing.

"Jasmine?" Vlad finally spoke up, "Isn't that your RV?"

"It can't be," she said in shock, "It's completely green."

"Well, whatever it is," the pitch in his voice increased in alarm, "It's heading straight for us!"

Jazz immediately put the car in reverse and stomped on the accelerator. The tires screeched against the asphalt as they sped backwards away from the oncoming RV. She put the car back into drive and swerved to the left. The RV raced past them and as it did, Jazz swore she heard it cackling madly.

"I am Technus!" the RV shouted.

"Oh, for the love of-" Vlad grumbled.

"Ghost of all electronics! And I shall defeat you weak humans in my new battle armor!"

Vlad rolled his eyes and was just about to tell Jazz to ignore the ghost of idiots when he remembered something.

"Didn't you say the Ecto-Converter is in your RV?" he asked.

"Yes," she nodded.

He pointed to where Technus had drove by and shouted, "Then follow it! We need it to defeat the Queen!"

Jazz quickly made a U-turn and chased after Technus. Technus saw them coming from behind and quickly engaged the Fenton Foamer. The Foamer emerged from the roof and shot off several rounds of slime. Though Jazz was able to drive around the attacks, it was very difficult to do what with the car being in such poor shape. Even though it ran fine, apparently, it wasn't able to dodge fine and was barely able to avoid each attack. Vlad grabbeed an ecto-gun from the back seat and fired. He hit the RV's tail light, sending it into a rant about how dare he attack the master of electricity or some other such nonsense. He ignored its rant and shot again, hitting the other tail light. Enraged, Technus fired the Foamer in retaliation. Again Jazz was able to dodge it, but only barely. This wasn't going to work. The car was going to give up in a few minutes if it kept on racing like this.

"We're going to have to stop soon," Jazz said, "I don't think this car can keep on speeding like this for much longer."

"Just get a little bit closer and leave the rest to me!"

Jazz looked at him quizically, but obeyed and pressed the accelerator flat to the floor. Technus saw them gaining speed and shot the Foamer again. This time, it hit them. Vlad was just about ready to pull the trigger of the ecto-gun again when the car started swerving out of control. Jazz quickly stomped on the brakes, making the car grind to a stop. They both lurched forward at the sudden stop and Vlad's finger slipped on the trigger. The weapon fired, shooting at the RV's rear tire.

"Alright! That's it!" Technus shouted, "Now I'm mad!"

The Foamer went back into the roof and was replaced with what looked like a giant laser gun. Before anybody was able to react, a jolt of electricity shot out from the gun and hit them both. They screamed as it ran through their bodies until it finally stopped a minute later. They slumped down in their seats moaning in pain. Finally, Vlad sat up and swung the door open.

"Alright, that does it!" he shouted, marching out with his weapon, "I've had just about enough of this moron's games!"

"Vlad!" Jazz shouted after him, "Where are you going?!"

She never got the chance to hear his answer. Technus fired off another bolt of electricity towards her. Quickly, Jazz swung her door open and dove out just as the bolt landed on the car. She took out her Laser Lipstick and blasted it at the RV. The blast landed smack dab in the middle of its back door, creating a tiny, scorched hole.

"Hey!" Technus growled, "Why you little-!"

The RV put itself in reverse and tried to run over Jazz. She dove to the side, making the RV crash into the car's fender, crumpling it. She aimed her lipstick at the window just as it flew open and possessed appliances and gadgets came flying out.

"Attack!" Technus shouted, "And defend me, Technus, Master of the machines!"

Jazz screamed and ducked as the gadgets lunged for her. She started running down the road and the RV gave chase with the gadgets close behind. She heard the weapon at the top of the roof about to go off again and quickly dodged to the side as it fired only to be hit by one of the ecto-guns. The RV blasted an electric ecto-ray from its headlights and hit Jazz, sending her screaming to the ground in pain.

"Neat!" Technus shouted, "I can still do that!"

She moaned and looked up just in time to see the microwave racing straight towards her. She rolled out of the way just in time and it crashed to where her head had just been a second before. It got back up and started for her again, but she fired the lipstick at it, bursting it into flames and make it crash back down, shattering into pieces. She looked up again only to be hit in the head by the Ecto-Converter. She was knocked back down just as she heard the weapon on the RV's roof about to shoot again. She scrambled to her feet and ran as it fired.

"Quit dodging me!" Technus complained, firing another electric ecto-beam.

Jazz payed no heed and continued running. The RV and appliances all chased after her and continued shooting and diving at her. Her legs started to grow weak and she started to slow down.

"Get out of the way, you!"

She felt something grab her by the collar and yank her back until she was sprawled out on the ground. Grunting, she sat up and looked to see that Plasmius was there again. He was levitating right in front of them and was shooting ecto-beams at the RV.

"Hey!" Technus shouted, "Cut it out! Do you know who you're messing with?! I am- "

"I don't give a butter biscuit about who you are!" Plasmius shouted, "Give me the Ecto-Converter now!"

The Ecto-Converter? That's what Vlad wanted, too. But he was using it to defeat the Queen. Why did Plasmius want it? Probably to destroy it! He must be one of the Queen's allies or something! It made perfect sense! That's why she kept seeing him! Queen Sam sent him to slow them down!

"Hey!" she shouted, "Plasmius!"

He turned just in time to be hit by Jazz's Laser Lipstick, sending him soaring backwards onto the RV's hood.

"Get off of me!" Technus demanded.

The hood swung open, smashing Plasius right into the windshield. After bashing his head against it, he slid down to the ground, groaning in pain. Jazz quickly took out the Fenton Thermos and aimed it at Plasmius. He looked up and saw it uncapped. He smacked it out of her hands and blasted her with an ecto-beam. She was knocked back and slid backwards against the asphalt from the force of the blast. Plasmius lowered his hand and was about to turn his attention back towards the RV when he spotted the Ecto-Converter right next to him. He snatched it up and was about to take off when Jazz shot him with the lipstick again. He held out his hand in front of him and created a pink translucent shield. The blast hit the shield and reflected the shot right back. Jazz gasped in alarm, but had no time to avoid it. She was hit in the shoulder just as Plasmius started to fly off with the Ecto-Converter.

"Hey!" Jazz shouted, running after him, "Get back here, you evil ghost!"

Seeing as he was no longer being attacked, Technus thought that it would be an excellent idea to take advantage of the distraction and peel on out of here. Nobody noticed the RV screeching off and instead focused on the chase. Plasmius shot off another ecto-beam, but missed. Jazz ducked and blasted her Laser Lipstick. He dodged out of the way and angrily shot another beam in retaliation. It hit her again and knocked her down. She got back up, but by then he had wrapped his cape around himself and had disappeared.

"Hey!" she shouted, "Hey! Come back here with that Ecto-Converter!"

No one answered. She shouted again, but was met with the same response. Heaving a very long sigh, Jazz headed towards where she left the car, but when she finally got there, there was something very wrong.

"Hey! The car! It's gone!"

Why did every vehicle she drove keep disapparing?! She frantically looked around for the missing vehicle, but couldn't find it anywhere. Nor could she find Vlad for that matter.

"Vlad! Vlad! Where are you?!"

Again, no answer. She walked back a few steps and stopped when her foot touched something. She looked down at it with a puzzled expression. Vlad's laptop? What was it doing here? The once polished and sleek laptop was now completely covered in scratches and was chipped in its corners. Probably got damaged in the fight with Technus. She picked up the laptop and opened it, letting several keys tumble out. She looked at the screen completely puzzled at the machine in the picture. Wasn't this the machine Vlad had showed her back at his lab? She saw that several notes were made off to the side of the picture and after reading them, Jazz concluded that this machine not only drained a ghost's powers, it also transferred them into another. Only thing was it needed the Ecto-Converter to power it up. What the hell was going on here?


	25. Chapter 25

"Sam! Sam! Wait a second!"

Dan had changed back into his ghost half and was chasing after her through the treetops. He had tried numerous times to get her to stop, or at least slow down, but she was having none of it. Every time he'd get close enough, she would send a tree branch to whack him in the face or swat him away and just kept on running. She wouldn't stop running. Or even answer him. Hell, she wouldn't even look at him. Not that Dan could really blame her. A pit started to form in his stomach as he thought back to just a few minutes before when Sam had seen Phantom turn into Dan. Her expression would always be burned into his mind. The look of terror and written all over her face. And that sparkle in those beautiful eyes was gone and replaced with anger and hurt. Is it really any wonder she was running? God, she must really hate him.

But Dan couldn't worry about that right now. Right now, he needed to stop her. He couldn't give up and let her get captured. With all these hunters running around looking for her, he needed to get her to Clockwork's where she'd be safe. Once Sam was safe, then she could hate him all she wants.

"Sam! Wait!"

He cried out in both surprise and pain as a branch smacked him hard in the face and sent him back another ten feet. He could feel the ecto-plasm trail down from the scratches on his cheek, but he ignored them. He could tend to that later once Sam was safe. He flew after her again, racing to catch up.

"Will you let me explain for a second!"

Another branch wrapped itself around his ankle and hurled him to the ground. He grunted in pain as he landed face-first into the grass. Spitting the grass and dirt out of his mouth, Dan quickly got back up into the air to continue the chase. There had to be some way to get her to stop. Obviously, screaming out her name wasn't working. Waiting until she got tired didn't seem like a good idea either. For one, who knows how long it would be until Sam finally got too tired to keep fleeing from him. And two, he was afraid if they kept this up, she'd run right into somebody's trap.

As if on cue, Dan noticed Skulker flying right above him aiming some sort of weapon protruding out of his arm at Sam. Crap.

"Sam! Look out!"

Sam finally stopped and looked up just in time to see Skulker fire several miniature missiles at her. She screamed as one of them hit the branch she was on and sent her hurling towards the ground. Dan quickly swooped down and scooped her up in his arms. An action that she was none too pleased with. She kicked and pounded her fists at him trying to release his hold on her.

"Let me go!" she demanded, "Put me down! Put me down now!"

"Hey!" Skulker shouted after them, "Get back here with my half million dollar prize!"

Dan ignored the both of them and flew off in the opposite direction with Skulker right on his heels. He dodged another missile, letting it fly past and hit a tree with Sam still desperately trying to escape. With one arm still cradling her, Dan held out his other arm behind him and shot an ecto-ray at Skulker. Skulker easily avoided the blast and retaliated with another round of missiles. Dan became intangible and let the missiles pass him. By this time, Sam had stopped frantically hitting him and realized it would probably be a good idea to get rid of Skulker first. She raised up her hand and almost instantly, a branch slapped him away like an annoying fly. He shouted as he soared backwards through the air and landed hard on another branch. He flew back up and retracted the miniature missile launcher back into his arm. Immediately afterwards, another launcher emerged from a panel on his back. He aimed for them and shot.

When Dan heard the shot, he looked back and watched as a glowing net came flying towards them. Before he could react, the net wrapped itself around him and Sam and painfully shocked them both. They screamed as the shocks went through them, making sure to sting everything it could. It was enough to weaken Dan and force him to change back into his human half. Sense he was no longer able to fly, Dan and Sam were sent screaming to the ground as soon as the painful shock had stopped. Though he couldn't move very much, Dan was able to turn himself around just enough so that he could land on his back and prevent Sam from being injured. Not that she really cared. After they, or rather Dan, crashed to the ground and he tried to see if she was alright, Sam had refused to look at him. He could her mouth start to quiver and tears well up in her eyes. He damn well knew this wasn't from any physical pain. Another pit formed in his stomach. But before he could say anything, Skulker had landed next to them and took hold of the net.

"Fine then, whelp," he snarled, flying back into the air, "Have it your way. You won't let go, then I'll just take you along with her."

Dan changed back into his ghost half and tried to phase himself and Sam out of the net, but was instantly shocked as soon as he tried. He changed back into a human before forcing himself back into a ghost a second later. Seeing that Dan was going to be no help, Sam poked her arm out of the net. Skulker felt something pull from behind him and look back. About twenty or thirty tree branches had wrapped themselves around the holes of the net and were pulling it back. Skulker's eyes became wide with alarm as he noticed the knots of the net were tearing.

"Hey!" he shouted, pulling as hard as he could, "Stop that right now!"

The branches and Skulker playing tug-of-war with the net was enough to tear it in two. Dan quickly flew back up with Sam still in his arms. He inhaled deeply before letting out a ghostly wail, creating visible sound waves powerful enough to send Skulker back. As soon as they hit Skulker, he was sent flying backwards into the sky until he could no longer be seen. Seeing as she was now free from Skulker, Sam resumed her kicking and hitting at Dan.

"Let me go!" she screamed, "Now!

Dan put her down, but kept a firm grasp on her wrist before she could run off again.

"Will you please listen to me?" he pleaded.

In response, she punched him in the eye. He held his free hand to his eye for a second and cried out in pain before putting it back down.

"Okay," he said, "I deserved that."

"You deserve a lot more than that! Now let me go!"

"Not until you listen to me!"

"I'm not listenting to any more of your lies, Phantom!"

"Sam, please! I'm trying to help you!"

"I don't believe a word of that! If you're trying to help me, then why were you trying to kidnap me back at Papa's lair?!"

"Okay, at first, I was kidnapping you, yes. But now, I'm sincerely trying to help!"

"You can help by letting me go!"

She swung another blow and hit him in the nose, causing it to bleed ecto-plasm.

"I'm not letting you go!" he shouted back.

He flew up, still having a firm grip on her wrist so he could get her to Clockwork's. But Sam commanded a tree branch to wrap itself around her waist and pull her back. Dan soon realized he wasn't going anywhere and prepared to fire an ecto-beam at the branch to make it let go. Sam saw what he was going to do and punched him again, this time cutting his lip.

"Sam, stop it!" he shouted, wiping away the ecto-plasm with his free hand, "This is for your own good!"

"Who put the bounty on me, huh?!" she demanded, "Who?!"

"I don't know! All I got was an anonymous letter telling me to take you to Wisconsin!"

"Wisconsin?" she stopped hitting for a second to stare at him, "That's where my parents are."

"Two blocks from them," he responded and dug into his pocket for the letter, "Here. See. The address is only two blocks away from them."

Sam took it and stared, "But I don't understand. Why-" she suddenly stopped and glared back at him, "You bastard! You weren't going to take me to them, were you! You tricked me!"

She punched him in the lip again and created another cut.

"Sam, stop!" he shouted, "You can hate me later after I get you to Clockwork's!"

"You just told me you didn't know who sent you that letter, you liar!"

"Clockwork's in the Ghost Zone, not Wisconsin! I'm not taking you to Wisconsin anymore!"

"Oh, please! Do you really expect me to believe that!"

"Please!" he pleaded, "Just listen to me! I changed my mind! Alright?! I don't want the bounty anymore! I want you safe! Just please let me take you to Clockwork! He'll keep you safe! Then you can beat me up all you want! Just let me make sure you're safe!"

"What makes you think I'll believe you, huh?! After all the lies you told me!"

"I'm sorry!"

"Here's what I think of your sorry!"

Dan could feel another branch wrap around his ankles and bind them tightly together. He was roughly yanked back, forcing him to let go of Sam's wrist and spun around six or seven times before being thrown backwards. He landed painfully on his back and groaned as he could feel himself change back to human. He looked up and saw Sam running through the trees again and quickly went back to ghost. He stood up was about to chase after her again when a heavy blow struck him in the back of the head. He fell back to the ground and changed back into human as his vision started to blur. He could hear someone behind him and grab his ankles, but was too weak to get up.

"Sam," he murmured, weakly.

Finally, his vision went black.


	26. Chapter 26

Sam kept running through the treetops with tears trickling down her face. Normally, she didn't cry so easily. Not because she didn't care, but because she was too determined to fix whatever the problem was. This time, however, nothing could be fixed.

To think Sam had actually started caring for him. Started to think he cared about her. Then he tore away that beautiful veil of bliss and revealed the cold reality. Bastard. Only person he cared about was himself. She was nothing to him. Nothing but a fat pile of money. Greedy bastard.

Sam's legs finally grew too weak and she had to stop. She leaned against the trunk of a tree and sat down on the branch, curling herself up into a ball as she sat. She buried her head in her knees and with a loud sob, let the tears flow more freely. As the tears poured out, Sam continued to sob, hating Dan or Phantom or whatever the hell his name was, for doing this to her. For the lies, for the tricks, for the scheming. She hated him for getting her hopes up about meeting her parents, for the mock concern and feigned interest in her. For making her care about him. Wanting him and needing him. Making her think that she was safe with him. That maybe, there might be a chance with him. Then ripping out her heart right out of her chest and shattering it into a million pieces right before her very eyes. Goddamned bastard.

The tears finally stopped and the sobbing had became a small whimper. She just sat there both physically and mentally exhausted and whimpered into her knees. Suddenly, she heard something from down below. She cautiously lifted up her head and remained silent. There it was again! It sounded like something was rustling in the grass beneath her followed by annoyed muttering. Crap. The bastard must have caught up. Sam sat up straighter and pressed herself against the trunk in an effort to hide herself. As the sounds came closer, Sam realized the muttering didn't come from anyone she recognized. Who was that voice? She cautiously peeked underneath her and gasped. Dan was there alright, but he laid unconscious on the ground and was being dragged by a strange, tall man. She watched the man grumble pastries under his breath while complaining about how difficult it was to drag Dan. He dragged Dan away until all she could see was his long, black hair trailing behind.

Sam spread out her arms and commanded the branches to build themselves into bridges again. She followed them through the treetops, making sure she didn't get too close, until they finally a road nearby. A bright red car that looked damn near destroyed was parked at the side of the road where the strange man dragged Dan. He yanked open the door, breaking it completely off the car. He stared at the door in his hands for a second before flinging it to the ground with an annoyed grunt and shoved Dan into the backseat. He then got into the driver's seat and sped off. Sam followed it, but was unable to catch up. She jumped off the tree and instantly, a giant dandelion sprung up from the ground to catch her fall. Upon impact, the white fuzz broke free from the week and spread themselves out to wherever they could go, but Sam paid them no attention. She had to get to Dan.

She continued the chase on the asphalt and tried to gain speed. For a moment, it looked like she was about to finally reach it until suddenly, a piece broke off the rear of the car. Sam tripped on it and fell. She watched in despair as the car sped off, knowing that she was never going to catch up. She looked to see what she had tripped on and saw it was some sort of tag. The tag had these numbers and letters on it along with a single word at the very top. _Wisconsin._ Wisconsin? The man was taking him to Wisconsin? What the-?

Sam slapped herself hard in the face and vigorously shook her head. No. She was being stupid. This was a trick. That bastard was just playing another trick on her. He must have gotten a friend to help. Just make it look like he was in trouble so the greedy bastard could lure her to Wisconsin and collect his goddamn money.

Scowling and chiding herself for being so stupid, Sam got back up to her feet and headed back for the woods. She was being stupid. So stupid. It was a trick. It had to be a trick. Bastard wasn't really in trouble. And even if he was, what did she care for? Liar deserved it for causing her so much trouble. And heartache. Goddamn bastard.

"You really like that word, don't you?" a voice said from behind.

Startled, Sam cried out in surprise and whirled around. Behind her was a blue-skinned ghost in a purple cloak carrying a staff with a clock on the end of it. To her amazement, the ghost grew from a child to a young man to an elderly man and back again in just a minute. Right now, he was a young man, but grew to an elderly man as she started to back away.

"Who," she asked, cautiously as she slowly backed away from him, "Who are you? Another hunter?"

"Easy, girl," the child answered, "I'm no hunter."

She stopped, "Then who are you? What do you want?"

"I just want to pass the time, is all," he chuckled softly to himself for reasons Sam wasn't sure of, "Now, we were just talking about Dan, weren't we?"

"You know Dan?"

"I'm acquainted with him, yes. And I do agree, he can be quite a bastard sometimes."

"Tell me about it," she snorted as tears threatened to fall again, "Goddamn good for nothing greedly little bastard!"

"Indeed he is," the young man nodded, smirking at her.

Sam couldn't quite say why, but for some reason, that smirk made her incredibly uneasy. What the hell was this guy doing?

"Wait," she said, suddenly realizing something, "I never actually called Dan a bastard out loud. I was thinking it. How'd you know what I was thinking?"

"I know everything," he responded, still smirking, "I know what has happened and what will happen. It's my job."

"Okay then," now Sam was getting irritated, "Well, Mr. I-Know-Everything, guess you know what I'm going to do now, don't you?"

"Of course I do."

That smirk seemed to grow wider if that was possible. Eager to escape it, Sam turned around and started marching back to the woods. To her annoyance, the creepy child followed.

"Do you mind?" she snarled, "In case you haven't noticed, I'm not in the mood for company right now. I need to be alone. Away from you."

"And Dan," he answered, ignoring her request, "You need to be away from him, too."

"Of course I do. Bastard. I never want to see his stupid face again."

She stopped and looked down at the grass, noticing that it was now flat from where he had been dragged. The banged up car door laid by the side of the road where it had been hurled. She picked up the door and looked back at the road. Dan was damn good at acting, that was for sure. For a few moments there, Sam had thought he was actually being kidnapped. But what if he wasn't acting?

"I thought you needed to get away from Dan?" the voice said.

She nearly jumped out of her skin and spun around, glaring at her unwanted companion.

"I do!" she shouted, forcefully as if she were trying to convince herself.

She threw the door down and glared at it before finally kicking it away from her.

"I hate him!" she continued, "I hate him! I hate him!"

"Then walk away," the elderly man advised, "He never cared so why should you?"

"I don't! I don't care! And no one can tell me otherwise!"

"Atta girl."

Sam started to march back to the woods again, but stopped. She looked back at the road with a pit forming in her stomach. Dan was just acting, right? There was nothing wrong with him. He's fine. He is fine, right? Then why did she feel so uneasy? She noticed that the stranger smirking at her as if he knew her secrets. She could feel a chill go down her spine. God, this guy was creepy.

"Are you trying to tell me something?" she finally asked.

The man was silent for a minute, still giving her that all-knowing creepy smile. Another chill went down her back.

"Nope," he finally answered, "Nothing at all. I think it's time I go now."

"Wait!" To her surprise, Sam found herself unexpectedly making a decision she hoped she wouldn't regret, "I need to find Dan! He's at Wisconsin! Could you please take me to him?"

"I'm afraid I can't," he responded, "I've been away from my work for too long and don't have time to take you to Wisconsin. But, I'm sure you'll find a way."

He pointed behind her and she spun around to see what it was. Something large and green was racing towards them at top speed. Sam could have been imagining things, but she could swear she heard the thing cackling madly. Wait a minute, was that Dan's RV? She turned back around to the stranger, but saw that he had already disappeared. Weird creep. She shook her head in disbelief and waited for the RV to approach.

"I am Technus!" it shouted, "Ghost of all electrical appliances! And you shall all bow before me as I take over your world!"

Sam waited until Technus the RV reached her. When it was finally close enough, she jumped onto the back of the RV. With her feet firmly planted on the back bumper, she grabbed hold of the back door handle and held on for dear life as the RV sped up.

"Hey!" Technus shouted, "Who dares to attack me?! Get off!"

Sam screamed as she felt herself being electrocuted. But as painful as it was, she refused to let go. The shock lasted for about thirty seconds before it finally stopped and she felt herself slipping. She willed herself to hang on and was able to steady herself back up.

"I said get off!" Technus shouted as he swerved, desperately trying to shake off the unwanted rider.

"You don't understand!" she shouted, still hanging on, "I need to get to Wisconsin!"

"What do I look like, a taxi? Get your own RV!"

"No! I'm not letting go until you take me to Wisconsin!"

"Then I'm going to have to get you off myself! Minions! Attack!"

Sam looked up in time to see a device Dan had called a toaster hurl itself at her head. She ducked only to be hit by one of the ecto-weapons. It landed on the ground behind her and fired, hitting her in the back with a green blast. She shouted in pain and started to slump, but quickly pulled herself back up.

"Please!" she pleaded, "My friend's in trouble! He needs my help!"

"Not my problem!"

Another ecto-weapon struck her head and blasted purple slime at her, covering her from head to toe.

"His life could be at stake here!"

"Don't care!"

This time she was struck by something Dan called a hair dryer. She could feel herself grow weaker. Her hands and feet were sweating and she was starting slip. She wasn't going to be able to hold on for much longer.

"Get off me!" Technus continued to shout as he swerved and hurled appliances at her, "How am I supposed to dominate this world if you won't let go of my battlesuit? You're making me run out of appliances here!"

Sam suddenly perked her head up. That's right. He was running out of appliances. Sam suddenly started to get an idea.

"Really?" she said with mock concern, "No appliances? Wow. Some battlesuit this is."

"Hey!" he shouted, highly insulted, "What's that supposed to mean? No one can hurt me in this armor!"

"No," she shrugged, "I guess not, but that's really all you got going for you here. Just armor and a few ghost tricks."

"Ghost tricks?! Listen here, little girl, these are not mere ghost tricks! They are what makes me, Technus, Master of technological advances in science, so powerful!"

"For now. Sooner or later though, the humans are going to find a way to easily dodge them and beat you. Then you won't be so powerful anymore."

Technus wanted to argue that wasn't true, but couldn't. It was true. The humans would learn how to beat him if he just used the same old attacks.

"But," Sam continued, "If you were to, oh, I don't know, somehow update your battlesuit armor, why just think of all the power you'd posess!"

"The power," Technus repeated to himself.

Sam smirked. She got him.

"Yep. All that power would be more than enough to make those puny humans tremble on their knees! But, you'd need more appliances in order to update your suit. Much more than what you had in that RV to start with."

The RV screeched to a stop, nearly making Sam lose her grip.

"You're right!" Technus exclaimed, "All those other puny appliances only added just a little juice to my battlesuit! Nothing more! That's not power! I need bigger and better technological devices!"

"Lucky for you, I know just where you can find them," Sam dug into her pockets for the letter with the address that Dan had given her, "And it's right here! Oh, and what a coincidence! It just so happens to be in Wisconsin!"

Technus was silent for a moment before reluctantly growling, "Very well, girl. But only so I can get to the humans' neighborhoods and steal their devices for my armor!"

The back door swung open, making Sam slip off and fall to the ground.

"Now hop in before I change my mind!"

Sam ran inside and sat in the driver's seat. The doors swung closed and the RV screeched off down the road to Wisconsin.


	27. Chapter 27

With a painful moan, Jazz sat down on the side of the road, letting Vlad's laptop clatter beside her. She stretched out her throbbing, aching legs and looked on hopessly down the road. She had been walking for god knows how long with no help in sight. No passerbys, no houses, not even a single goddamn gas station. The fact that she had no car and no Vlad didn't help her mood. How was she ever going to stop the Queen now? Jazz would never be able to catch up to her in time to stop her evil plant army. Not without a car. Maybe she could use...

Jazz surveyed her surroundings and sadly shook her head. Oh, who the hell was she kidding? Jazz knew she wouldn't be able to stop Sam's evil plan. She was never able to stop any ghosts' evil plans. Or even capture most of the ghosts. And the ones she did catch were either the Box Ghost or ghosts she caught by pure, dumb luck. As if it wasn't bad enough that Jazz couldn't catch any ghosts, she just had to go and bring the evilest ghost of all right into her own hometown. She'd gone and brought the enemy home. That evil Queen Sam ghost and her giant, evil plants were going to take over the human world, and it was all Jazz's fault!

God, she she was such a lousy ghost hunter. No wonder Vlad insisted on going along with her. He was the only one of the two competent enough for the job. The only one that gave Jazz even a glimpse of a chance at capturing Queen Sam. And now that he was missing, Jazz had no chance at all.

Where is Vlad anyway? He was going to be so mad when he hears about his stolen car. Who would want to steal a car that was obviously battered up? Nevermind. Not important. Finding Vlad is important right now. Jazz needed to find him and make sure he was alright. And maybe get him to explain that weird machine back at his lab. According to him, it was supposed to drain a ghost's powers, but what did his additional notes on his laptop mean? Why would he want to transfer a ghost's powers to another ghost? Wouldn't that just make the other ghost more powerful? Why would he want that? That just made no sense at all. He was supposed to be stopping powerful ghosts, not giving them a chance to take over the world. What the hell was he doing.

Nevermind all that. Right now, Jazz needed to focus on finding Vlad. Though, considering how terrible she was at finding ghosts, she really wasn't expecting her people-finding skills to be any better. Hopefully, he was okay. He wasn't in trouble was he? That Queen ghost didn't find him, right? Great. That would just be Jazz's luck. Vlad getting kidnapped by an evil plant Queen ghost, and his only hope was the lousy idiot who had no idea what she was doing and accidentally brought the Queen here in the first place.

As Jazz drooped down her head, her aching legs made her mood dampen even more. Stupid car thieves. If she had the car right now, her legs wouldn't feel like Jell-O. She might have even found Vlad by now. Hell, they might have actually found the Queen by now. Damn, she really missed that car. She missed it so much, Jazz could still hear the rattling of its busted engine and the screeching the back fender made as it was being dragged down the road. Wow. She must really miss that car since those sounds were starting to get louder. Wait a minute-

Jazz looked down the road and spotted a dented grill and front fender speeding towards her. As the car got closer, she could see its scratched up red paint and flopping flat tire. And right there in the driver's seat was Vlad! He was okay! And he found the car! Jazz excitedly grinned and shot up to her feet, waving franticallly at the oncoming car.

"Vlad!" she shouted, "Hey! Vlad! I'm right here!"

But Vlad paid no attention to her. He raced right on past her. What the hell? What was he doing? Maybe he didn't see her? Ignoring her weak legs, Jazz chased after the car. She could see the rear view mirror and through the reflection saw the determined look on Vlad's face. What was going on? She looked again, and perhaps it was her imagination, but she could have sworn that she saw a small grin. A wicked, evil grin. It kind of creeped her out a little bit. No time to think about that, though. She needed to catch up to that car.

She continued to run until she was right behind the trunk. She climbed on top of it and headed towards the backseats on all fours. She was so focused on keeping her balance, she didn't notice the annoyed look Vlad shot at her through the rearview mirror.

"Vlad! Vlad, stop! What is going on? What are you-?"

She stopped and looked down into the back seats. Somebody was sprawled out on his stomach in the seats with his long hair covering most of his face. He looked like he was unconcious. What little of his face Jazz could see looked awfully familiar. Hey, wait a minute. That kind of looked like-

"Dan?!"

At that, Vlad slammed on the gas and sharply swerved to the right. Jazz lost her balance and landed painfully on her side on the road. She looked up to see Vlad's car quickly disappearing. Damn. For a car that was beaten to Hell and back, it was awfully fast. She jumped up to her feet and went after it.

"Hey!" she shouted, frantically flailing her arms about, "Stop! Vlad! Vlad!"

She soon out of breath and was forced to stop. Sweating and panting heavily, she fell to her knees and watched as the car sped out of sight.

"What the hell?!" she called after it, still panting.

Though the car was now long gone, Jazz continued to stare after it. What the hell was going on here? Vlad saw her, right? She was jumping up and down and waving about. He had to have seen her. So, why didn't he slow down? And why did he force her off the car like that? Maybe that was an accident. But that still didn't explain why he didn't slow down or stop for her. And what was Dan doing in there? Whatever was going on, Jazz knew it was something seriously wrong. And she couldn't help but think that machine back at his lab had something to do with it.

Jazz looked behind her. She couldn't see Vlad's laptop anymore, but knew it wasn't too far behind. She needed a closer look at those notes about that machine. Maybe she could find its blueprints somewhere in the computer's files.

When she was able to properly breathe again, she got up to her feet and headed back. She found the laptop on the side of the road right where she left it. She sat down next to it and picked it up, quickly searching through its files. As she did, a thought came to her. Assuming she could find the machine's blueprints, what would she do with them? She couldn't confront Vlad since she had no way of getting to his mansion. Besides, she didn't think she was welcomed there anymore. She couldn't take them to the police since she had no proof of any crime going on, if there even was a crime in the first place. And since no one here liked ghosts, a ghost-power-draining machine wouldn't exactly bother the police anyways.

And what if the blueprints didn't show anything menacing on Vlad's part? Maybe it was just a ghost-power-draining machine like he said. But then, why did the computer also say it could transfer the power?

Jazz went through the files and carefully scrutinized every detail. She didn't find any blueprints or any new notes on the machine. But she did find a file folder with Queen Sam's picture as its icon. Curious, she clicked on the icon and the folder opened up to something similar to a rap sheet. There was her picture along with her physical description listed on the side which Jazz glanced over. She got to the bio underneath the description and began to read.

 _Parents are Pamela and Jeremy Manson who live just a few blocks away. Met them at a party where Mrs. Manson proceeds to get drunk and in her stupor, claimed to have had an "evil" daughter who had the power of chlorokinesis. She then claimed she abandoned the child to rid her family of this "evil." Did not believe her at first until I recalled a woman in the Ghost Zone roughly around the same age as the child might be today whom many call the Queen of the Forest with similar powers. After a bit of research, I have determined this is indeed the same girl. A mere human girl with no ghost DNA in her whatsoever, and yet she has all this power! I can only imagine what I'll be able to do once I have it!_

Jazz's jaw dropped. Vlad was trying to steal the Queen's power?! That's why he was chasing after her?! So Queen Sam was innocent all along! She wasn't the villain! Vlad was! She had to stop him! But how? Maybe there was something else here in the compiter that could help. She searched through the files again and found a Wanted poster of Queen Sam with a reward of $500,000 underneath her picture. Another file pulled up a list of names. Skulker, the Phantom, Valerie Gray, the Guys in White. Ugh! None of this helped!

Jazz slammed the laptop shut and stood back up. She looked around to see if any cars were driving by. Of course not. So how was she going to get to the mansion? Hell, how was she going to stop Vlad? She couldn't stop a ghost, so what made her think she could stop a human? Oh, who cares. She didn't have time to question herself. Though, she couldn't help but question how she'd be able to get to the mansion without some sort of vehicle.

As if on cue, she heard what sounded like maniacal laughter behind her. She turned around just in time to see her now-possessed RV zoom past her. She put the laptop under her arm and raced after the RV.

"Wait!" she shouted, "Hang on! I need a ride!"

"What am I, a taxi?" the Technus RV shot back, "Get your own ride!"

"You're the only one here! Besides, it's an emergency! I just need to get to Wisconsin!"

"Another one?! What is it with you people and Wisconsin?!"

Jazz didn't have time to answer for a purple beam shot past her and hit the RV's back door.

"Hey!" Technus protested and shot an electric spark at Jazz from a broken tail light.

"That wasn't me!" Jazz answered, dodging the shot.

"No, it wasn't!" another woman said, "That was me! Now, get out of my way, lady! The Queen's in there!"

Jazz looked up to see a woman in a red suit fly after the RV on her hoverboard. The woman wore a wrist cannon and was shooting it at the RV demanding the Queen. The Queen? Queen Sam? Quickly, Jazz took out her laser lipstick and aimed for the hoverboard. She shot it, making it spiral out of control and crash to the ground and throw the woman off. Before the woman could get up, Jazz snatched the board next to her and smashed it onto the asphalt, breaking it into pieces.

"Hey! My board!" the woman shouted, "What are you doing to my board! I need it to get the Queen!"

"I know!" Jazz said and threw down the pieces she was holding before running off, "Can't let you get to her! Sorry!"

The woman growled and shot her cannon at Jazz. The beam hit her in the back and lurched her forward until she slammed into the back door of the RV.

"And she's back," Technus sighed.

Ignoring him, Jazz grabbed the door handle and tucked the laptop under her shirt. She started climbing to the roof.

"Hey! What are you doing?! Get off!"

"Just take me to Wisconsin and I'll leave you alone!"

"Get back here and hand over the Queen!"

Jazz looked behind her. The woman was running after them and had drawn an ecto-gun. She shot the gun at the RV. Jazz shot the Laser Lipstick in retaliation while Technus brought the Ghost Electric Shocker on top of the roof. The giant gun blasted a large bolt of lightning at the woman, making her stop in her tracks and scream in pain. Jazz continued to climb and got to the roof just as the gun was retracting back. Before Technus could slam the roof's door, she jumped in.

"Hey!"

Jazz continued to ignore him and climbed down into the living quarters of the RV. As soon as she got to the ground, she was promptly tackled to the floor. She felt something pressed against her forehead. She looked up and blinked in surprise at the person holding an ecto-gun at her.

"Queen Sam?"

"Don't move!" Sam demanded, "I don't want to use this thing, but I will if I have to!"

"Use it!" Technus urged, "Use it and get her out of here! I only agreed to take one of you!"

"Wait, Queen!" Jazz pleaded, "You have to listen to me! I need to get to Vlad's mansion!"

"Well, I need to rescue Dan! And I'm not going to let you interfere! Now, get the hell out of here!"

Technus swung the back door open in anticipation for Jazz's exit. Sam grabbed Jazz by the hair and started dragging her towards the exit.

"Dan's with Vlad!" Jazz suddenly shouted, "Vlad's taking him to his mansion!"

Sam stopped and stared at her, narrowing her eyes in suspicion.

"Really?" she asked, warily.

"Really! I swear! I saw Dan lying there in the back of Vlad's car!"

Before Sam could reply, a purple beam shot at them, making Sam let go of Jazz. Technus quickly slammed the door shut and brought the Ghost Electric Shocker back out on the roof. He fired, but the woman dodged and fired back. Sam ran towards the driver and passenger seats and aimed her ecto-gun out a broken window. Jazz raced to her side and aimed the Lipstick. They both fired along with Technus. Again, she managed to miss the electric jolt, but was unable to avoid the Lipstick and the ecto-gun. She was hit in both the face and the stomach and was sent down to her knees. She growled as three cubes surrounded her. She pointed towards the RV and the cubes went racing off. All three shot at the RV at the same time, causing it to flip over onto its side. The girls fell backwards and banged their heads against the walls.

"Hey!" Technus protested as he tried to get upright again, "Why you-! How dare you attack Technus, Master of all technological devices! When I get back up, I'm going to-!"

He was interrupted by a mechanical female voice.

"Fenton Family Ghost Assault Vehicle in incorrect position. Now engaging Spring Mode."

"Spring Mode? What the- AIIIEEEEE!"

The RV bounced into the air and flew into the air. As he soared through the sky, Technus got an idea. The voice came on again.

"Now disengaging Spring Mode."

Instead of falling back down, the RV continued to fly.

"Yes!" Technus shouted, triumphantly, "I can fly in this thing! Why didn't I think of that sooner?"

Seeing as they were no longer being attacked, Sam and Jazz got back up and Jazz continued to plead her case.

"Please just listen to me!" she begged, "I'm sorry I thought you were evil! I'm sorry for accusing you of taking over the world with giant plant ghosts! I'm sorry I tried to attack you! But if you really want to help Dan, we need to get to Vlad's mansion! I even know where it is!"

Sam widened her eyes in surprise as Jazz told her the address.

"Wait," Technus interrupted, "We're already heading there. That's where you wanted to go? Why are you humans so obsessed with that address?"

"Now how did I know that's where that man was taking him," Sam murmured, not paying any attention to him.

"Huh?" Jazz asked.

"Nevermind," Sam shook her head, "You really want to help?"

"Yes, I do! Vlad's planning something bad! Really bad! I don't know exactly what, but I do know we're all going to be in danger if we don't stop him! Trust me! I'm on your side now!"

Sam eyed her warily for a few minutes. Finally she sat down.

"So," she said, "What's the plan?"


	28. Chapter 28

When Dan finally woke up, he really wasn't able to see much about at first. The throbbing from the back of his head hurt so much, it practically blinded him. He tried to reach up and touch his head, but foundhe wasn't able to move his arms. He looked down to see some metal strap around his wrists pinning him down to the wall behind him. His vision suddenly cleared right then and there and he wildly looked around trying to see where he was. He appeared to be in some sort of extremely small and narrow room with a glass screen right in front of him. Behind the other side of the screen appeared to be a larger room filled with all sorts of lab equipment. Right next to this narrow room was some sort of machine with a person-sized chamber attached. Wait a second. This wasn't some narrow room. It was a chamber! Dan must be in another chamber attached to this weird machine. The hell was going on here?

Dan attempted to change into his ghost form, but was instantly jolted with a painful shock. He cried out in both pain and alarm and instantly stopped. The shock went away. When he tried again, it came back and forced him once again to stop.

"If I were you, Phantom, I'd stop doing that. It won't work. Besides, you're going to want to save your strength."

Dan looked around again until he saw the tall man with his white hair in a ponytail and a malicious smirk on his face in the center of the room. He walked up to Dan's chamber.

"Because," he continued, "I'm going to need that strength of yours in a few minutes before I fnally take Samantha's."

Sam! Dan had completely forgotten about her until now! She wasn't here was she? Was she alright? Was she hurt?

"Where's Sam?!" Dan demaded, "Where is she?! What have you done with her?!"

"I don't have her," his captor answered, "Not yet, anyway. But I predict that she'll be here soon. I did make a bit of some noise back there so that she would notice me dragging you off. And one of the hunters I sent after her just reported back to me that she's heading this way. My trap seems to be working so far."

"Trap?" Dan repeated to himself.

Oh no. This- this- whoever the hell this bastard is, was using Dan as bait to lure Sam here. And he had no way of warning her away! Oh, god, this wasn't good. Wait a minute, he said something else, too.

"One of the hunters you sent?" Dan repeated, this time to the man, "Wait, you're the one who sent all these hunters after Sam?"

"Amazing what people are willing to do for you when you bribe them with just the right amount of money, isn't it? And all of you actually managed to get a lot closer than I ever did when I started going after her, too. Especially you. Bravo."

Dan suddenly started feeling guilty as he thought back to his original intentions with Sam. Back to when he was only concerned with the half million dollars promised to him upon successfully capturing her and bringing her to this bastard. He forced those thoughts out of his mind and started to think of another question. The longer he could keep this guy talking, the longer Dan had time to think of an escape plan before Sam got here and walked right into this guy's hands.

"So, you're the one who sent me that letter," Dan said he tried to move his arms, looking for a weak spot in the straps, "But why'd you send so many? Wasn't one enough?"

"Apparently not," he snorted, "Not one single one of you was able to just grab the girl and bring her here. But that's not why I sent out so many hunters. No. The real reason is because patience is not exactly one of my virtues. I can get a bit too eager at times. And when I heard of Samantha's power, I was extremely eager to obtain it."

"Her power?" the straps weren't loosening or giving up. He needed to think of something else, "All this just so you could have plant powers?"

"No, Phantom," his captor scowled, "This isn't about having plant powers. I really couldn't care less what sort of powers Samantha has. This is about her having powers as a human! A ghost will always have powers, no matter how weak or idiotic they are, like that moronic Box Ghost, for example. But a human almost never has any powers at all. So when one does have it, those powers, no matter what they are, will always be incredibly strong and potent. That, Phantom, is what I'm after. Samantha's potentcy and strength!"

"And just how do you think you're going to get it?"

"Hmm," his captor tapped his chin in thought pretended to think, "Yes, that is the problem, isn't it? How am I going to do that? If only I had some sort of machine that would drain someone's powers and transfer them into me. Oh! Wait a minute! That's exactly what I have!"

He pointed to the machine that Dan's chamber was attached to with a wicked chuckle. He walked up to a table nearby and picked up a smaller machine. He then walked to the larger machine's control panel and started fiddling with the wiring as he continued talking.

"And the only thing it's missing is the Ecto-Converter. I knew Maddie kept it around her lab somewhere, but wasn't quite able to find it. I had hoped Jasmine would tell me where it was, but apparently, it had been stolen. Fortunately, I was able to get it back, albeit by pure dumb luck. Aha! There we go!"

He stepped back, allowing Dan to see the smaller machine, aka the ecto-converter, attached to the control panel. He had to admit, he was curious as to what it did was afraid he wasn't going to like the answer. Either Dan's expression gave away too much, or his captor had mind-reading powers, because immediately, he started to answer Dan's unasked question.

"The Ecto-Converter is a device takes ectoplasm and uses it as and energy source for all sorts of electronics and inventions. This particular invention you're in will use your ectoplasm for energy, and eventually, Samantha's."

"But Sam's a human," he responded, still trying to wriggle his arms free, "She doesn't have ectoplasm."

"Here's a little fact I discovered in my research, Phantom. Humans such as Samantha who are born with powers actually do have ectoplasm. It's a very small amount and is nearly undetectable without the proper equipment. But it is there. It gives energy to their powers. And her ectoplasm will give energy to this machine once I finally have her."

"You won't have her!" Dan responded, raising his voice, "I won't let you!"

"And just how do you plan to stop me? Need I remind you're trapped here? As soon as Samantha comes, she'll be trapped here, too."

"She's not coming! She doesn't care about me! She's not going to fall for this trap!"

"Need I also remind you I just said one of my hunters reported her heading this way? Apparently, having discovered you were Phantom doesn't have any effect on her feelings towards you."

"How do you know about that? How do you even know I'm Phantom?"

"After having finally found my car after that idiot Technus stole it, don't ask, I was driving along looking for Jasmine when I overheard a bit of some commotion nearby. I stopped to invistegate and found the Phantom fighting off one of my hunters. Imagine my surprise when after the fight was over, the Phantom transformed into you, a mere human. I then saw that Samantha was nearby and she had witnessed the transformation as well. I followed the both of you when you started running off and overheard you two arguing. And from the way you were arguing, you both cared for the other one very much. As soon as she ran away, my little trap started to form in my head and I brought you here to lure her towards me."

"She's not coming!" Dan insisted as he watched his captor fiddle with the controls, "I don't care what you're hunter said, Sam's not coming! She doesn't give a crap about the Phantom! She's not going to come!"

"Please," the other snorted, "You and I both know that's not true. And even if it were, with your power, I'll be able to track her down in no time."

"My power?" Dan stopped struggling and stared at him, "Wait, what do you mean my power? I thought I was the bait?"

"True, you are. But there's another reason you're here. I never imagined that the Phantom, the mighty Phantom, considered to be one of the most powerful ghosts in existance, would turn out to be a human-ghost hybrid just like me."

Right before Dan's eyes, his captor suddenly changed into a blue-skinned ghost with blood-red eyes and jet black hair. As Dan continued to stare, the ghost before him continued on.

"As powerful as I am, I'm forced to admit, I don't nearly have the same amount as you do. I can only imagine just how strong your powers must be in order for you to be known as one the most feared ghosts there is! But I'll know soon enough in just a few short minutes."

Dan started to panic as his captor headed for the other chamber. He tried to transform back into a ghost, but was shocked back. Then he tried summon an ecto-ray in his hand. Another shock. He inhaled deeply and prepared to let out a Ghostly Wail, but was shocked again.

"It's no use, Phantom," Dan heard as he watched the other chamber close behind the other human-ghost hybrid, "You might as well just give up and accept your fate. It'll be much easier on you if you do. Or not. I honestly don't know. Oh well. I'll find out in about ten seconds."

Ten seconds?! Dan continued his struggling and tried transforming again as a robotic voice did a countdown.

"Ten. Nine. Eight."

Another shock.

"Seven. Six."

Dan started kicking frantically as hard as he could at the glass screen, but it wouldn't even crack.

"Five. Four."

He kicked with both legs, but still the screen refused to give.

"Three."

Come on. Come on. He twisted and turned his wrists as the kicking continued.

"Two."

Why won't this goddamned glass break?!

"One."

Please Sam, don't come. Don't come. Don't be stupid enough to try to save his sorry ass.

"Engaging Transferring Procedure Now."

A white-hot searing pain ran throughout Dan's body and seemed to touch every single nerve along the way. He screamed and arched his back, trying to get as far away as possible from whatever was causing it. He fought against his bonds still screaming as the agonizing searing coursed through his veins and went deeper inside him, as if it were searching for his core. His knees started to shake as he felt an unseen force siphoning his energy and weakening him. He eventually stopped struggling. He didn't have the strength to continue. But he kept screaming as the pain continued. The pain had finally found his core right at his heart and nestled itself deeply inside, seemingly setting the organ on fire. Or at least that's what it felt like. Dan's shaking knees finally gave and he slumped down, only being held up by the straps around his wrists while the unseen force continued to strip away his energy. He stopped screaming. He didn't have the strength to keep it up anymore. But still, the pain continued and his vision started to get blurry. He drooped his head down both in exhaustion and from the severity of the pain. His blurry vision soon grew darker and he found it incredibly difficult for him to breathe as the pain squeezed his chest. Gasping, he tried to focus his vision without any success. All he had managed to do was waste away what little strength he had left. His vision was almost gone and he wasn't getting any air in his lungs. Please Sam, don't come. Don't get yourself trapped in here, too. He wasn't worth it. He wasn't worth all this pain. Don't come.

There was a loud crash. From where Dan couldn't tell. He was only able to hear it right before losing conciousness.


	29. Chapter 29

Sam looked at the busted and scratched up machine Jazz called a laptop. She explained a laptop was a tiny computer, but Sam didn't know what that was either. She remembered the strange machines she came across at the library in the room marked "Computer Lab," but that was really the only thing she knew about computers. Concerning the small one in front of her, it wasn't really the machine itself that caught her attention, but the picture of another strange machine displayed in front of her on the laptop's cracked screen. Jazz explained that this Vlad person had already told her the strange machine was supposed to drain a ghost's powers, but through some hidden notes on the laptop, she was able to discover that the drained powers were then supposed to be transferred to Vlad himself. She had just finished bringing up said hidden notes when Sam finally spoke up.

"But I'm not a ghost!" she protested, skimming the notes in disbelief, "I'm just a regular human. A human with strange powers, yes. But still, a human. If the machine works on ghosts, how's it supposed to-"

She stopped and stared at the screen in front of her with wide eyes. Her face became pale and a feeling of dread came over her as she carefully reread the notes. Jazz didn't notice her silence and attempted to come up with an explanation to Sam's question.

"My guess is he probably thinks you're at least part ghost. Or that he thinks you might have some sort of ghost DNA in you that's making your powers. Not that it really matters. As long as you have powers, he's still going to try and get you. My question is why kidnap Dan? What's he got to do with all this?"

For the past few hours, Technus had remained silent still a bit pissed off about carting these ridiculous human girls to Wisconsin. The only thing that seemed to cheer him up was the thought of getting more equipment for his battle armor and finally conquering this world. That and the look of sheer terror on those girls' faces when he finally fulfilled his destiny of being the human world's ruler. With these thoughts in his head, he had mainly blocked out the girls' blabbering, but at the mention of the Phantom's human name, he perked up. Technus had a few altercations with that candle-headed moron in the past and none of those ended very well on Technus' part. They weren't getting him, were they? Not that Technus was worried about that buffoon now that he had a new battlesuit, but he had to admit, if the Phantom was going to be involved, he'd be sure to throw a huge monkey wrench in Technus' plans. To his relief, the girls didn't seem interested in getting the Phantom involved in stopping him, but did find it a little surprising one of them didn't know who he really was.

"Really?" he finally broke his silence, "You really don't know about the Phantom? That's surprising."

"The Phantom?" Jazz answered, looking around her quizically, "Who's the Phantom?"

"You've got to be kidding me. You were just talking about him! Next you're going to tell me you don't know about Plasmius, either!"

"What about Plasmius? And what do you mean we were just talking about the Phantom? We were talking about Dan! Sam, do you know what he's talking about? Sam? Sam?"

Sam didn't hear Jazz or Technus. In fact, she didn't hear a single word that was said at all. She was too busy reading and rereading over and over again the notes on the laptop, not really sure if they were true. Hoping they weren't true.

 _Parents are Pamela and Jeremy Manson who live just a few blocks away. Met them at a party where Mrs. Manson proceeds to get drunk and in her stupor, claimed to have had an "evil" daughter who had the power of chlorokinesis. She then claimed she abandoned the child to rid her family of this "evil."_

Pamela and Jeremy Manson. The Mansons. Her family. Her parents. Abandoned her? The evil child? They thought she was evil? Sam blinked back tears as she stared at those hateful words. Pamela and Jeremy Manson. Evil daughter. Abandoned the child. Rid of the evil.

With a chill running down her spine, another memory came flooding back to her. She was in the middle of the dead woods sitting on the rock where she found the barrette. She was nervously tugging at the ends of her hair as she watched a redheaded woman in a prim and prissy pink and white dress in pink heels walk away. Her mother. She had just finished sitting the little girl on the rock and sternly commanding her to wait there until Mama came back. Sam had obediantly stayed at her place waiting for Mama to come back, desperate to show her what a good girl she was. Maybe when Mama came back and saw her sitting there like she was told, she might not think Sam was a brat after all. Maybe, she'd call her a good girl for once, like those nice, lovely girls in the neighborhood. She smiled at the thought of these praises she was sure Mama would finally give her when she came back. But Mama never did come back. She was gone. And she'd never see her again.

Sam still stared at the laptop screen still completely ignorant to Jazz's call behind her. A hollow pit formed inside her stomach. A few tears had trailed down her cheeks as she stared at the word "abandoned." It was true. Abandoned. That's exactly what Mama did. Sam was never lost. She had been abandoned. On purpose. By her own mother. The same one who had forbidden her from playing with the good girls in the street for fear of Sam's evil hurting them. The one who wouldn't let her play with many toys, if any at all, for fear of Sam's evil accidentally being released. The one who would lock her in a dark closet, sometimes for the whole day, as punishment whenever Sam accidentally let out her evil. A buttercup. A daisy. A new blade of grass. All of those were proof of Sam being a nasty, naughty little brat with evil powers. It was all true.

"Sam!"

Sam yelped and fell out of her chair as a hand touched her shoulder. Jazz yanked her hand back, startled herself, before helping Sam off the floor.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah," she replied, standing back on her feet, "Yeah, sorry. I was thinking about something."

Jazz noticed Sam's eyes looked a bit redder and that her cheeks seemed to have tear stains on them, but decided against asking about them. Whatever she was thinking about seemed to really hit a nerve with her judging from her expression, and Jazz wasn't too sure she'd be willing to talk about it.

"Anyway," Sam wiped the last of her tears from her eyes, "You were saying?"

But before Jazz could say anything, Technus suddenly interrupted.

"You two might want to hold on to something."

Both girls looked at each other with a questioning glance and asked in perfect unison, "Why?"

They were immediatly answered with a _CRASH!_ Sam and Jazz both lost their balance and fell on their stomachs as the RV kept crashing through whatever Technus was attempting to drive through. The entire RV shook and tremored and whatever small appliances that were left came crashing down. The girls covered their heads with their hands as dishes, ghost-hunting weapons, toiletries, and all other sorts of crap crashed and shattered near them.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Sam shouted as coffee mug barely missed her head.

"Well, you're so welcome for my bringing you here like you asked!" Technus shouted back, sarcastically.

"Wait," she and Jazz perked up at the news, "We're here? We're actually here at Vlad's place?"

"Again, you're welcome!" he continued shouting sarcastically.

"Thank you!" Jazz finally answered. She already had to fight Vlad, she didn't want to add Technus to that list.

"Well, at least somebody's grateful," he muttered.

At last, the crashing stopped. The girls tried to stand up, but found themselves falling again as they discovered the RV was at an odd angle with the front facing downwards. Jazz looked out the window and discovered why. Unlike a normal, sane person, instead of parking in the driveway, Technus had decided that since he could make the RV fly, it would be a swell idea to crash into the roof and through the floors of the mansion, and finally stopped the RV with the rear rising up and sticking out on the first floor while the front was pointed down and sticking out of the ceiling of the lab in the basement.

Jazz wasn't the only one who noticed the RV's odd parking spot. Plasmius ran out of one of the chambers on the power transferring machine and stared up in disbelief and confusion at the vehicle.

"Plasmius?" Jazz asked herself, "Why's he here? Where's Vlad?"

"Who cares?" Sam scrambled around the RV gathering various weapons, "Where's Dan? You see him?"

"Who cares?" Technus answered and flung both the driver and passenger doors open, "I've put up with you two for long enough! Get the hell out of here!"

Sam and Jazz watched in alarm as cables and wires still sparkling broke off the dashboard and wound themselves around the girls' wrists. They shouted as they found themselves being yanked out and flung to the lab below.

"Out! Get! Shoo!"

They landed at Plasmius' feet. He stared at the girls before staring back up at the RV, narrowing his eyes.

"Technus!" he demanded, "Technus, you idiot! Is that you? What are you doing in my lab?! Get out! Get out this instant, you fudging little pest!"

The cables suddenly wrapped themselves around Plasmius' waist and delivered a painful shock.

"Who are you calling an idiot?!" Technus demanded, "I am Technus! Lord of all scientific technology!"

"Why you-!"

Plasmius flew up to the RV with a pink ball of ecto-energy forming in his hand. Not that Sam really noticed. She ignored the fight behind her and was frantically looking around for Dan. Where was he? She couldn't find him. Where did Vlad take him?

"Dan?" she shouted, getting back on her feet, "Dan? Dan!"

Silence. He was okay, right?

"Dan!"

No answer. What was Vlad doing with him?

"Dan! It's me! Sam! Dan!"

Nothing. Oh, dear god. Plea se don't be hurt.

"Dan, please answer me!"

Still no reply. Where the hell was he. She was about to leave the lab and look for him upstairs when she happened to glance at the closed chamber on the strange machine.

"Dan!"

She ran up to the glass and pressed her hands against it as she stared in shock in terror at his limp body. He was being held up in an upright position by metal straps around his wrists. His hair covered his face. She watched his heaving chest rapidly rise and fall. Oh god, he couldn't breathe! She needed to get him out of there!

She banged her fists hard against the glass, but not a single crack would form. Sam didn't fail to notice that all that knocking and bashing around apparently hadn't caught Dan's attention. His head still hung limply as if he hadn't heard anything. Seeing that Dan wasn't reacting to the noise at all made Sam's heart pound harder as she reached for an ecto-gun she had strapped to her waist. Grabbing it by the muzzle, she raised the but of the gun and slammed it down. Again it refused to break. And again Dan didn't stir. Damn it. She struck again. Still nothing. Again and again she continued hitting at the glass. In desperation, Sam grabbed a chair and started flung it against the glass. It hit the glass and fell to the floor. Still nothing dammit!

"Jazz!" she finally called, picking the chair back up and trying again, "Help me! I can't open this thing!"

Jazz had been occupied with trying to shoot Plasmius with an ecto-gun she had taken from the RV and trying get him to talk about Vlad. Meanwhile, as he dodged Jazz's attacks, Plasmius was blasting pink ecto-beams at Technus. Technus retaliated by shocking him with electro-beams and possessing various machinery and equipment in the lab. Jazz ducked as one of Vlad's Ghost Gauntlets drew out its claws and aimed them in Plasmius' direction. The gauntlet had just flown past her and slashed at Plasmius' arm, drawing green ectoplasm when she heard Sam cry for help. Relieved to be away from the middle of the two ghosts' feud, she ran towards Sam who was hitting and bashing away at the glass of one of the machine's chambers with a chair.

"I can't break this thing! We need to get him out of there, now! How do you open it?!"

Jazz looked inside the chamber and gasped at Dan's slumped figure inside. What the hell? Why did Vlad put Dan in the machine? What did Dan have to do with any of this? Nevermind! Jazz needed to open this thing! She ran for the machine's control panel, giving the Ecto-Converter a questioning glance for a second, before scanning for some sort of release button.

"Well?!" Sam demanded, now trying to use a microscope as her new battering ram.

"Working on it!"

"Take this, you babbling cheese doodle!" Plasmius shouted.

"Babbling cheese doodle?!" Technus shouted in outrage as he commanded a centrifuge filled with vials of ectoplasm to hurl itself at Plasmius' head, "I am the Master of all of this technological equipment! And you dare to- AAAAUUUUGGGGHHHHH!"

Plasmius stared in fascination at the pink flames shooting out of his hand. He had meant to summon a ball of ecto-energy in his hand so he could use its force to punch Technus out of his house, but instead of a ball, his ecto-energy had turned into fire. This must be the Phantom's power making itself known. Interesting. What else could the Phantom do? Plasmius concentrated and soon the trail of fire turned into pink fireballs. He stopped the attack for a moment and summoned a fireball in his hand. He grinned in both triumph and awe as he held it, savoring it for a moment before throwing it at his opponent. The RV let out another shout as it hit him and summoned a heating chamber towards Plasmius. Fire spewed out of the heating chamber and started to form a giant ball itself until Plasmius blasted it into pieces with a normal ecto-ray. Dividing himself into two, both Plasmius' summoned a pink fireball in each hand and raced towards the RV with their fists raised. Before Technus had any time to react, he was punched by the two hard enough that he was loosened from the hole in the ceiling he was sticking out of and crashed to the floor. That was painful enough, but the blows had also caused the RV to catch fire. Pink flames ran across him as he desperately looked for a way out. He flew out of the RV, returning it back to its normal, though now severly beaten, state. Plasmius angrily watched him levitate before him as he pointed his electro-staff accusingly at him. Something stirred deep in Plasmius' throat. Something powerful. The Phantom's power. And it wanted out.

"You fool!" Technus shouted, "Do you know who you're dealing with?! It is I! Technus! Ghost of all things with wires and-!"

Again, he wasn't able to finish his sentence. Plasmius had let that power inside him grow until he couldn't hold it back any longer. He let out a roaring ghostly wail, making the entire lab tremble and blasted that electrical idiot out of his house with his pink ecto-soundwaves. Sam finally took notice of the fight behind her and looked back curiously at Plasmius. That ghostly wail. She heard it before. Back home. Back when the Phantom was chasing her at Papa's lair. He had used it then to try to capture her. And again to save her from the Guys in White right about the time she discovered Dan and the Phantom were one and the same. She glanced back at Dan still breathing heavily inside the chamber before looking back at Plasmius still roaring. Finally, it hit her.

"That's Dan's power!" she shouted, startling Jazz, "He used the machine and stole Dan's power!"

"What?" Jazz turned her head to Plasmius, "Dan's power? What are you talking about? What would Vlad want with Dan's power? And that's not Vlad, by the way. That's Plasmius. We haven't even seen Vlad yet."

But Sam wasn't listening. She drew her ecto-gun and pointed it at Plasmius.

"Hey!" she shouted, marching towards him, "Asshole! You looking for me? Well, here I am! Come and get me, you bastard!"

Plasmius fininshed his new ghostly wail and had just turned towards Sam when she fired, sending a green beam right in the middle of his torso and knocking him back until he crashed into an examination table. The table collapsed under the surprise attack and sent him down the floor. Sam aimed again and glared at him as two black rings surrounded him and went in opposite directions, changing his form as they passed. She soon found herself glaring at a human with white hair and blue eyes. She heard Jazz gasp from behind her.

"Vlad?! You're Plasmius?!"

"Get Dan out of there!" Sam reminded her.

"Right! Right! Sorry! Working on it!"

Vlad got back up, brushing away the dust on him as he chuckled maliciously.

"Well, well, well," he faced Sam, ignoring the weapon pointed at him, "This certainly is a surprise. And to think of all the trouble I went through. Placing the bounty on you, hiring those hunters, going after you myself. And all I really had to do was kidnap your little Phantom friend and just wait for you to stroll on in! Funny how life works out, isn't it?"

"Let Dan go!" she demanded, fingering the trigger, "Let him go now! It's me you want, isn't it? Then let Dan go!"

"Oh, don't worry, girl. I have no need for him anymore. I'll take care of him soon enough. It's yourself that you really ought to worr y about."

"'Take care of him?' What do you mean? What are you going to do? Don't you dare- HEY!"

Vlad had pointed his index finger at her weapon and shot out an ecto-beam, knocking the ecto-gun out of her hands. As she turned around and raced for the gun, Vlad transformed back into Plasmius. At first he didn't notice any difference in his appearance, but as he bent down to grab the girl, a strand of his hair fell over his face. As he reached to brush it aside, he noticed it was flaming. No, it wasn't on fire. It was fire. He quickly dashed to a towering machine nearby and checked his reflection in its shiny metal. He stared in amazement at his black hair now flaming like Skulker or Ember. Or the Phantom. This must be his power's doing! They were changing Vlad's appearance. Not that he was complaining. He actually rather liked this change. He couldn't help but wonder what sort of things Samantha's power had in store for him when he was suddenly shot to the ground by a beam from the girl's gun.

"Get him out!" Sam continued demanding, "Get Dan out of that thing! He can't breathe in there! Let him out!"

"Oh, don't worry, girl," he growled at her menacingly, "I will."

Before she could react, Vlad charged and tackled her to the ground. He yanked the gun out of her hand and threw it behind him before tightly gripping onto her wrist. He flew up, dragging Sam with him and headed for the machine. Sam flailed, kicked, and shouted in an attempt to free herself to no avail. Hearing the commotion behind her, Jazz turned around in time to see Vlad grab her by the collar and toss her across the room. She screamed and crumpled to the floor as she hit the wall. He paid no attention to her and pressed a few buttons on the machine's controls. The chamber imprisoning Dan finally opened up. Again Sam tried to get free and run towards him, but Vlad's grip was too tight. He grabbed Dan by the collar and yanked him out, breaking the straps across his wrist, and tossed him aside. Dan didn't stir as he landed hard on his side. He was unconscious and still breathing heavily. Before Sam could try struggling again, Vlad threw her in the open chamber. She hit her forehead against the back wall as the glass door closed behind her. She quickly spun around and began banging and pounding at the glass. As ususal, it refused to crack.

"Let me out!" she shouted, "I know you hear me, goddammit! Let me out! Now!"

"What was that?" Vlad smiled and turned his ear towards her, "You want me to drain your powers and take them for myself? Why Samantha, how generous of you! Of course I will!"

"That's not what I said, you bastard! Hey! Let me out!"

"Ten. Nine."

Sam looked up to see where that robotic voice was coming from.

"Eight. Seven."

Oh to hell with it. It didn't matter! She had to get out of here!

"Six."

"Jazz!" she shouted, pounding on the door, "Jazz help!"

Jazz sprinted for the controls and started fiddling with them again.

"Five."

Sam looked towards Dan. Other than his chest rapidly rising and falling, he remained still. He wasn't moving. Come on, Dan. Wake up. Please wake up! Please!

"Four."

She was sorry for hitting for calling him a bastard. She was sorry for screaming at him. And punching him in the face. Repeatedly. And for having her plants beat him up. Repeatedly. And for doubting him. She should never have doubted him.

"Three."

She should never have run away. Then she could have been there. She could have stopped him from beind kidnapped. She coud have stopped Vlad from taking his powers. She could have stopped Vlad from leaving him nearly dead.

"Two."

"I'm sorry, Dan," she whispered, "I failed. I couldn't save you. I'm sorry."

"One. Engaging Transferring Procedure Now."

Sam flinched and clamped her eyes firmly shut as she waited for the attack.

"Abort! Abort! Disengaging Transferring Process Now."

She opened her eyes in surprise and blinked. Huh? It was aborted? She looked out to see Jazz beaming with pride with her hand flat on top of one of the buttons.

"I did it!" she shouted in excitement, "I did it! I stopped an evil ghost's plan! I finally did it!"

In her excitement, she accidently pressed another button with her fist.

"Re-engaging Transferring Process. Ten. Nine. Eight."

Sam scowled at her as she quickly pressed the previous button.

"Abort! Abort! Re-Disengaging Transferring Process."

Jazz sheepishly smiled in apology. Sam rolled her eyes and was about to scold Jazz when she noticed Vlad marching out of the other chamber and drawing out a pink ecto-energy in the shape of a lasso from his arm.

"Behind you!" she shouted.

Too late. Vlad had already wrapped the lasso end of the ecto-energy rope tightly around Jazz's waist, pinning her arms to her sides.

"Get away from that, idiot!" he shouted.

He flew up and spun her round the room twice before letting go. She screamed as she found herself soaring towards a shelf packed high with various machine parts and failed prototypes of previous inventions. She crashed into the shelf and fell to the floor with all the stuff on the shelf raining down on top of her. With a satisfied grunt, Vlad headed back towards his chamber but suddenly felt himself being pulled backwards by some unseen force. He turned around to see Jazz with an earlier version of the Masters Thermos, make based off of Maddie's Fenton Thermos. Jazz had found it and was trying to use it against him.

"Stupid girl!" he snarled, trying to keep steady against the vacuum, "Do you honestly think that measly little thing can stop me! I have the Phantom's power! I'm almost impossible to defeat!"

He lost his balance. He fell to the ground and desperately clawed at it as he found himself drawing nearer towards the thermos until he was finally sucked in all together. Quickly, Jazz slammed the cap on the thermos and smirked.

"Almost impossible to defeat," she said, heading for the control panel again, "Almost."

Still beaming and congratulating herself for finally catching a ghost, she tried once again to open the prison chamber's door. Sam nervously drummed her fingers against the glass as she anxiously watched Dan. He still wasn't waking up. He looked dead. And if she didn't get him some help fast, he will be dead soon.

"Please, Dan," she whispered, "Please just hang on. Don't die. Please don't die. Wake up."

Nothing. He still didn't stir. Finally, Jazz figured out which button opened up the doors. As soon as the chamber was open, Sam practically leapt out of the chamber and kneeled down towards Dan. She grabbed his shoulder and started shaking him.

"Wake up!" she shouted, "Wake up, dammit! Come on! You need to wake up! He needs help! Now!"

Sam looked up towards Jazz, but before Jazz could start looking for a phone, she felt the thermos at her waist tremble. Uh-oh. That wasn't good. She quickly yanked it off her belt and threw it inside the prison chamber. She slammed her fist down on the button that closed the door just as the thermos shattered and a blue mist appeared before solidifying itself into Vlad's ghost half.

"You nitwit!" he shouted, "I swear, you're worse than your father, if that's even possible! That was a prototype thermos, you moron! It doesn't work as well- YEOWCH!"

Sam questioningly raised her eyebrow at Jazz, only to be answered by a shrug. Whatever was going on in there, Jazz didn't do it. The girls looked through the glass and watched as an electric spark surrounded Vlad and forced him back into human form. The shock stopped and Vlad stared at his human hands in confusion.

"What the-?"

He suddenly looked out to see the girls glaring at him through the glass. Problem was the girls were in the lab side of the glass. He wasn't. He was in the chamber. But his chamber didn't have any electric shocks. Which meant- Uh-oh.

"Oh, peanut brittle!" he shouted, "I'm in the other chamber!"

"And you're going to stay there, too," Jazz shouted at him, "Until the police come!"

"Oh, really?" he retorted, putting his hands on his hips, "And just what are you going to tell them? Hmm? That I'm using some sort of power transferring device to power up my ghost half?"

"Exactly!"

"And what if I refuse to show my ghost half? You'd look pretty stupid, wouldn't you?"

"Uh, well," Jazz's face paled. She hadn't thought of that.

"And that power transferring device story will sound incredibly stupid without a ghost nearby, now wouldn't it?"

Sam wasn't paying attention to the argument. She looked at Vlad and looked at Dan. Power transferring device. That's it! That's how she could save him! Without a word, she jumped to her feet and took Dan's arms. With Jazz watching her curiously, Sam dragged Dan to the other chamber until they were inside. She stepped out and pushed his feet in before walking over to the controls. Vlad was watching too and had figured out what she was up to.

"Please, girl," he snorted, "You don't know how to start that thing."

"How do you start this thing?" Sam asked Jazz.

"What are you doing?" Jazz responded as Sam went for the controls.

"I'm giving Dan back his powers! That's what's going to save him! Now, how do you start this thing?"

"Powers? What powers?"

"Vlad took Dan's powers! That's why he almost dead! How do you start this machine?"

"Then won't that thing nearly kill Vlad?"

"Who cares? He deserves it. Now if you're not going to help me-"

"I don't know about this," Jazz nervously looked at Vlad and then at Dan.

"Please! I need to do this! It's the only thing that'll save him! If you're so concerned about Vlad, you can call help for him right after this! Just please tell me how to turn this thing on!"

"I don't-"

"Haven't I always been honest to you? Even when you didn't believe me, was I lying?"

Jazz sighed. Sam just had to go there. She pointed at the button she had mistakingly pressed and immediatly ran for a phone. If Vlad was right about this thing being painful, and if Sam was right about this machine nearly killing Dan, Vlad was going to need an ambulance and fast after this was over.

Sam watched her leave and pressed the button. The door to Dan's chamber closed and the robotic voice started counting down.

"Ten. Nine. Eight."

Vlad started panicking and was banging and pounding at the door of his chamber.

"Seven. Six. Five."

Sam saw a flash of light from Vlad's chamber and heard him cry out. Apparently, the prison chamber wouldn't let ghosts use their powers. No wonder Dan couldn't get out.

"Four. Three."

"Wait!" Vlad pleaded, "You don't want to do this! I'm sure we can all just laugh and forget about this!"

"Two."

"How much money do you want? I'm a billionaire you know! I can make you a very rich girl, Samantha! You and your plant father, what's his name? Undergrowth? Undergrowth is it?"

"One."

"Wait!"

"Engaging Transferring Procedure Now."

Sam jumped as Vlad letting out a blood-curdling scream. She watched completely horrified as Vlad writhed in agony on the floor. She turned around and winced. God. As much as she hated this asshat, she didn't want to cause this much pain for him. She looked at Dan's chamber and sharply inhaled before exhaling it out slowly. This is what he did to Dan. All that pain and agony. He made Dan go through that. All that writhing is exactly what Dan was doing before they got here. Vlad got what he deserved. Still, she could do without the screaming. As if somebody had heard her silent wish, the screaming stopped. The machine whirred as it slowed down. It must be finishing up. Finally, it came to a stop. She peeked inside Vlad's chamber to see him lying there unconscious. She couldn't see his chest, but she was going to guess he was breathing hard like Dan. Speaking of Dan...

She scanned the control panel for the door release on Dan's chamber and pressed it. The chamber opened and Sam ran inside. He was still lying there unconscious. She got down to her knees and listened to his breathing. Steady. He was breathing normally again! Now he just needed to wake up!

"Come on, Dan!" she shook his shoulder again, "Dan! Dan! Wake up!"

She heard him groan and slowly stir. It's working! He's waking up!

"Dan! Dan! It's me! It's Sam!"

"Sam?" he moaned, weakly.

"Yes!" she shouted, excitedly, "Yes! Sam! I'm here! I'm right here, Dan!"

He opened his eyes and looked up at her smiling face. God, that smile was so beautiful. And that sparkle was there in her eyes. That gleaming sparkle in those precious eyes.

"Dan!" she shouted, tears of relief watered her eyes as she threw her arms around him and held him tight against her, "Dan, you bastard! Don't do that again! Don't you ever do that again, you stupid bastard! You scared me! You scared me! Don't you dare scare me like that ever again, you bastard! I thought I was too late! I thought I lost you! When I say wake up, goddammit, Dan, wake up, you bastard! Don't scare me, Dan!"

Still crying, she softly kissed his cheek. Not once or twice, but multiple times. Kiss after kiss. She couldn't see Dan's cheeks turning bright red. Nor did she see the goofy grin that had spread across Dan's face.


	30. Chapter 30

Ten minutes later, the paramedics arrived for Vlad. Or, at least, Jazz thought they were paramedics at first when she opened the door. She wasn't really paying that much attention. It wasn't until one of them lost his hat did she finally get a good look and realize they didn't have a face! Not completely. They only feature they had was a single eye dead center at where the rest of their face ought to be. When Dan saw them, he sharply inhaled.

"Damn," she heard him say, "He must have really pissed off everybody in the Ghost Zone if they sent the Observants here."

"Observants?" Jazz asked, "What are Observants?"

But Dan never elaborated. He watched as the two Observants put Vlad on a stretcher and took him away. And that was the last time Dan, Sam, and Jazz ever saw him. After Vlad was taken to god knows where, Jazz turned to look at Sam and Dan. He was now fully awake and standing next to Sam. To Jazz's surprise, Dan had miraculously recovered just like Sam thought he would after being inside the machine a second time. She still didn't know exactly what powers it was that he was supposed to have, but she didn't push the issue. If Dan wanted to show her, he would. If not, oh well.

Dan stood next to Sam and surveyed the damage around him. Shattered lab equipment and machinery littered the floor, there were large, human-sized dents on the walls where Dan guessed people had been thrown, there was a giant hole in the ceiling, and the incredibly battered RV had crashed below and broken the concrete floor underneath it. Whatever had happened while he was out, he was incredibly glad that he wasn't a part of it.

The room wasn't the only one that had gotten damaged in the fight. Both Sam and Jazz were covered in dark, ugly bruises and opened cuts. Their clothes were ripped and their hair was wildly sticking out in all sorts of places all over their heads. Sam noticed him looking at her and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"You okay?" she asked.

She was the one completely battered and bruised and she was asking if _he_ was okay? But he didn't say this out loud. Instead, he merely nodded.

"Good," she lowered her head and looked up at him with her cheeks blushing, "You scared me for a moment back there."

Dan raised up his eyebrows in surprise. While he had heard Sam saying something to him a few minutes back when he was waking up, he wasn't really paying attention to what it was. He was more focused on her kiss. Or, should he say kisses. Her pretty, soft, little lips brushing up against his cheek. If he could just lay there on the floor with nothing but her sweet kisses forever, that would be just fine with him. But, like all good things, the kisses stopped when the Observants came. And now here he was with Sam shyly smiling at him.

"Listen," she said, still looking at him with red cheeks, "I- I want to apologize for what happened."

"What?" he asked, "Why? None of this is your fault. Vlad's the one-"

"No, not that," she interrupted, "No. I mean, this is about a few hours ago. When I found out you were the Phantom. When I hit you. A lot. And called you names. A lot. And had my plants attack you. A lot."

"Sam-"

"No, I mean it. I'm sorry. This is all my fault. You wouldn't have gotten hurt if I'd gone with you to Clockwork. I didn't believe you then, but I believe you now."

"Sam, really-"

"I'm still mad at you for lying to me. And tricking me. And for trying to claim the bounty on me in the first place."

"Sam, I'm really-"

"But, I also want to thank you."

"Wait, what?"

"Even though I know now that you had no intention of taking me to my parents, I want to thank you. I actually liked this trip, crazy as it was. I had fun. I really liked being with you."

Dan smiled and kissed the top of her forehead.

"Me too," he said.

"Hey! Lovebirds!" Jazz interrupted.

Dan and Sam looked up. She was behind the RV and vainly trying to push it out of the lab.

"I could use a little help!" she shouted.

Rolling his eyes, Dan walked towards Jazz. To her utter amazement, he transformed into his ghost half right then and there in front of her. She stared at him with wide eyes at his blue skin and fiery hair.

"A ghost?!" she shouted, "You're a ghost?!"

He ignored her and lifted the RV over his head. He flew up and made both himself and the RV intangible before flying through the basement walls. Sam and Jazz quickly went up the stairs and out of the house just in time to see Dan carefully place the vehicle back down. He landed right next to it as Jazz ran up to him, still demanding answers.

"How long have you been a ghost?! Why didn't you tell me about this?! I've been selling ghost-hunting equipment to a ghost?!"

"Will you please knock it off?" Dan replied, quickly growing weary of her questions.

But Jazz refused to quiet down, "Who else do I know that could possibly be a ghost in disguise? My neighbors? My friends? The rest of the world? And that's just assuming these are all good ghosts! Just imagine how many disguised ghosts out there are evil! I can't possibly quit ghost-hunting now! Not with all these evil ghosts mascarading as humans! I need to call my new boss Dr. Penelope Spectre at the day camp and tell her I quit!"

She ran off in search of the phone. Sam and Dan didn't bother going after her. They were relieved to finally be alone.

"Well," Sam said, nestling her head against his chest, "She sure seems happy."

"Mm-hmm," he replied, stroking her hair.

They were both silent for a few minutes, just enjoying the moment. Dan knew he would have to return her to her Papa back at the Ghost Zone. Somehow, he didn't think Undergrowth was going to let Dan go with just a simple "Sorry for kidnapping your daughter! Bye now!" Not without a few new freshly bleeding wounds. But as much as he was dreading the confrontation with the overgrown dandelion, it was what would happen next that really scared him. What would Sam do? Would she just go back to her normal life without him? Forget him, altogether?

"You know," Sam started to say, "Papa's going to be real pissed at you when I finally get home. He probably won't let me see you again."

"No," he sighed, "Probably not."

"Unless," she smirked with a mischievous twinkle in her eye, "I tell a little white lie and say you knew about Vlad's bounty on me and that you were trying to protect me and take me to this safehouse."

Dan smirked back, "You'll think he'll actually fall for it?"

"I did," she shrugged, "And if he hears it from me, he will, too. He won't be happy, but he won't want to kill you anymore. And we can still see each other. Right?"

"Right."

He kissed her forehead again just as Jazz was walking towards them. She was holding a cell phone in one hand and busily dialing on it with the other.

"Okay," she said, speaking mostly to herself, "I've quit my new job. I'm going to take what equipment I can from here and use them to build a new lab at my new house. Now all I need is a tow truck for the RV. I'm sure I can get it fixed in time for the move."

"Wait," Sam broke away from the embrace much to Dan's disappointment, "How are Dan and I supposed to get home? We used the RV to get here."

"Wait," Jazz looked up from her phone, "You guys? That was you guys that stole my RV?!"

"What?" Sam stared at her with a blank expression.

"Okay," Dan grabbed Sam and held her bridal style in his arms, "Thanks for the ride. Got to go. Bye!"

He shot up into the air with Jazz chasing behind them, "Come back here, ghost! I never gave you a ride! You stole my RV!"

Dan outran, or out flew in this case, Jazz until he could no longer see her. When he finally looked down, he realized he was two blocks away from Vlad's house and was currently hovering right over the address of Sam's parents.

"You know," he said to her, "I never did get you to your parents' house. We're here now."

"What?"

Sam had been too busy cuddling herself up against him and enjoying the warmth of his body. So when Dan said they were above her parents' house, she was startled both by the sound of his voice and by what he said. She looked below and stared at the red shingles on the roof of the house. This was it. This was what she had been looking forward to. All the crap she went through the entire trip. Skulker, Valerie, the Guys in White, Dan and the Phantom turning out to be the same, that weird, creepy ghost that wouldn't leave Sam alone after Dan's kidnapping, Vlad. All of that led up to this. And if she had shown up a few hours ago, she would be excited. Ecstatic even. But now? Now that she knew the truth? Now that she knew her own mother had abandoned her in the middle of a deserted woods? Now, she didn't feel excited anymore. Or even nervous. And strangely enough, not even angry. She didn't feel anything. Except numb. She felt numb. She really didn't know what to do now? Should she just leave? That would be the sensible thing to do. After all, she was abandoned. Obvously, she wasn't wanted here. Still, she had to admit, she was curious.

"Put me down," she said.

Dan landed in the driveway and gently placed her on her feet. She looked at the white house standing in front of her. The porch was clean and proper with small, white deck chairs in a straight line at one end. At the other end of the porch was a white, wooden porch swing with a small, round table in front of it. The lawn was green and properly trimmed. Sam was quite sure that if she had a ruler, she would find that every blade of grass was exactly the same length. She took a deep breath and let out a long exhale. Then she slowly walked up the driveway, up the porch, and right to the red front door. A thousand thoughts ran through her mind as she raised her fist and knocked on the door. Did they still not want her anymore? Did they regret leaving her behind? Would she be angry with them? Sad? What if they started screaming at her? What if she screamed at them? What if she hit them? What if she hit them and Dan thought she was too crazy to deal with?

The door opened and a red-headed woman in a white-and-pink polka dot dress stood in front of Sam.

"Yes?" she asked.

"Are-" Sam stammered, "Are you Mrs. Manson? Pamela Manson?"

"Yes?" the woman arched her eyebrow, "And you are-?"

"Sam," she answered, "I'm Sam. Sam Manson."

The woman's eyes immediately grew wide in shock. Then she quickly furrowed her brows angrily at her.

"I don't know any Sam Manson!" she snapped, "Leave my property at once or I'm calling the police!"

She tried to slam the door, but Sam stuck her foot in the doorway.

"Wait!" she shouted, now furrowing her own brows back at the woman, "You owe me an explanation! I deserve that!"

"What explanation! I don't even know who you are!"

"Liar! Yes, you do!"

Dan heard the shouting as he stood at the end of the driveway and thought it best to intervene before Sam really got mad. He already had first-hand experience about what happened when Sam got mad and it was not pretty. The woman saw him coming up to the door and widened her eyes again at the sight of the ghost. Sam turned and motioned for him to stay back. He stopped, but stood by, a littly wary of what would happen next.

"Why?" Sam demanded, "Why'd you leave me in the middle of nowhere?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about!" the woman kept insisting.

"Here," Sam stepped onto the lawn and got down to her knees, "Let me refresh your memories!"

She placed her palm flat on the grass. About two seconds later, Sam was surrounded by freshly sprouted forget-me-nots. The woman stared at her lawn with frightened, wide eyes before staring at Sam.

"Well?" Sam insisted.

"I-I-" the woman slowly backed away into her house, still looking frightened, "I don't know you! Now, you and your ghost friend need to leave! Now!"

She slammed the door. Sam sat there in the middle of the new foreget-me-nots and stared at the door. Shock. Anger. Disappointment. All these emotions filled her mind. What the hell else was she expecting? That she'd be welcomed with open arms? That they'd be tearful and begging for forgiveness? That they could talk everything out and sing "Kumbaya" at the end of the day? She was a complete idiot. They hated her then and they hated her now. And she was an idiot for expecting anything different.

"Sam?"

Dan had come up next to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm okay," she said, softly.

She stood up and looked at him. He had a look of concern in his face. It kind of looked a little a cute. And it was a bit flattering to think all this concern was just for her. She smiled and kissed him on the cheek.

"Really," she reassured him, "I'm fine. She didn't really mean much to me anyway."

Not until recently anyway, but he didn't need to know that. Dan smiled. That was much cuter. It suited him more. He picked her up in his arms again and went back up into the air.

"So, now what?" Dan asked, "Home?"

Sam shrugged, "My home. Your home. The home of your next hunt. Wherever. Just take me with you."

"What about your Papa?"

"Eh, I'll send a postcard. So, what's it like being a bounty hunter?"

"You really want to learn?"

"If it's as this much fun as this trip was, then yeah, I do."

Dan didn't answer. He was already thinking of his new hunt. With his new partner by his side.

The End


End file.
